Embattled Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan is not seeking re-election.

“What I do next, what issues I champion, what challenges I tackle, has yet to be determined, but I will not be leading Ontario’s house of labour,” Ryan said in an open letter provided to the Star.

The longtime OFL president, elected in 2009, has been under increasing pressure to step aside in order to avoid further defections by unions within the federation that had refused to pay dues in recent years.

Ryan said in an interview his plans to seek re-election in November “had just become too divisive . . . I think the convention should be a positive affair for everybody, and me stepping aside gives other people opportunities to step forward.”

Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), said he was glad to see the 63-year-old Ryan hit the road. OPSEU was one of three major unions that stopped paying dues to the OFL in protest of Ryan’s leadership.

“I am happy he is not running . . . and I look forward OPSEU re-engaging in the labour movement,” Thomas told the Star.

In his open letter, Ryan said: “It is no mystery that, along the way, I have accumulated some critics (you may have heard from a few in the pages of the Toronto Star), but union members are unmistakably united.”

Canadian Labour Congress president Hassan Yussuff praised Ryan for his contribution to the labour movement both with the Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the OFL.

“Sid is one of those remarkable leaders who can motivate activists to challenge employers . . . and that needs to be celebrated . . . yes he has his detractors but for the most part most people who know him he was sincere in his efforts to help build and strengthen the labour movement across the country,” Yussuff said.

Leading the charge for Ryan to quit was Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, the largest private sector union in Canada. “There is clearly a consensus among some of the top leaders across the province that they have lost confidence in Sid,” Dias said in an interview last month.

Dias is backing fellow Unifor official Chris Buckley for president. Neither Dias nor Buckley could not be reached for comment.

Ryan was taken aback in the spring when the Canadian Labour Congress stepped in and appointed a financial administrator to oversee the operation of the OFL.

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The problems at the OFL intensified this summer when a secret camera was discovered in an exit sign in the office reception area. Shaken employees have since demanded a complete electronic sweep of the office for fear there are more hidden video and listening devices.

Ryan was widely praised for urging the parties to work together in the Ontario legislature in order avert the June 2014 provincial election that he worried would lead to a Progressive Conservative government, which he felt would hurt organized labour.