The umbrella group for Ontario's most powerful unions has unanimously elected prominent labour leader Sid Ryan as its new head.

Sid Ryan has proposals to reopen shuttered auto plants as part of a green manufacturing economy. Sid Ryan has proposals to reopen shuttered auto plants as part of a green manufacturing economy. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)About 1,000 delegates acclaimed Sid Ryan as president of the Ontario Federation of Labour on Wednesday.

He succeeds outgoing OFL president Wayne Samuelson, and leaves his previous post as Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, a position he has held since 1992.

Ryan said he wants to work with Ontario's Liberal government to repair the province's ravaged manufacturing sector by focusing on building a green economy. He said shuttered auto plants could produce new energy products.

He also said he wants to heal divisions within organized labour.

Ryan said he will meet Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on Thursday to discuss Ontario's swollen deficit, which now stands at $24.7 billion.

The OFL represents about one million public- and private-sector workers in Ontario.