blue collar

Saturday May 21, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 21, 2022

Doug Ford nets another union endorsement, positions Ontario PCs as labour friendly

October 20, 2021

Doug Ford touted his union ties and tried to position his Progressive Conservatives as the labour-friendly option for voters on Tuesday, as his political rivals accused him of simply paying lip service to workers.

The Tories gained the endorsement of another construction workers’ union on the campaign trail, while the more traditionally union-friendly NDP secured the backing of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents 180,000 workers.

But Mr. Ford downplayed his tiffs with public sector workers, whose ire he’s drawn over a bill that capped wage increases at 1 per cent for three years, as he highlighted the endorsement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).

“These are the people that are going to build Ontario, build Toronto, build the whole province. They’re out there slugging it out, day in and day out, no matter what type of weather it is. And we couldn’t run the province without ‘em,” Mr. Ford said at a morning press conference. “… I’ll always have their backs, always.”

February 28, 1996

He was speaking at IUPAT’s headquarters in Toronto’s north end, where he used a stencil and sprayer to paint his campaign slogan, “Get It Done” on a Progressive Conservative blue wall.

Mr. Ford, who’s seeking re-election in next month’s vote, kyboshed attempts to compare his Tories to a previous PC government in Ontario.

In the seven years Mike Harris led the province, he earned a reputation for being anti-union.

Mr. Ford said that’s not his position, nor was it the position of his late father, who served as a Progressive Conservative MPP under Mr. Harris for several years.

“I’m not gonna judge any other any other party. I’ll tell you, our families, be it my dad or my brother Rob or [nephew] Michael, we’ve supported the hard working women and men in this province, the union members,” Mr. Ford said. “We always have. I love ‘em.”

But Mr. Ford hasn’t always had a friendly relationship with unions.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath noted Mr. Ford has been at loggerheads with unions representing public employees over legislation passed in 2019 that caps pay raises in the public sector at 1 per cent or less.

August 29, 2019

He declined Tuesday to commit to repealing the bill – something several unions have been requesting since the legislation passed – saying instead that he’d “treat them fairly” when the three-year raise freeze is over.

Mr. Ford has also feuded with teachers’ unions, first during lengthy contract negotiations and later over his policies for reopening schools during the pandemic.

Ms. Horwath, whose New Democrats have historically been the party most closely aligned with unions, said workers should pay attention to the changes in Mr. Ford’s tune.

“I don’t change my mind about my support for unions and working people,” Ms. Horwath said at a campaign stop on Tuesday. “We’ve seen Mr. Ford attack unions, we’ve seen him attack working people, many, many times. The Conservatives always do that. (The Globe & Mail) 

 

Wednesday October 19, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 19, 2021

With election looming, Doug Ford’s PCs pitch themselves as a party on the side of workers

With Ontario’s provincial election looming next spring, Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are presenting themselves as a party that is on the side of workers. 

September 5, 2020

It’s a political makeover that will likely to be a tough sell for Ford and his PCs. 

Ford came to power in 2018 on a crusade to make Ontario “open for business.” One of his government’s first bills froze the minimum wage, scrapped a requirement that employers give all staff at least two paid sick days and ended measures that made it easier for some workers to join a union. 

But now Ford is clearly making a fresh pitch to win favour with workers. 

“We’ve always been for the front-line hard-working union people,” Ford told a news conference in Windsor on Monday. “I will break a brick wall down to support them.”

April 23, 2021

Ford’s Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Monte McNaughton, also aimed for a pro-worker tone in a recent speech to the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella group of unions representing plumbers, electricians, bricklayers and other skilled tradespeople.  

“We’re on your side,” McNaughton told the gathering of about 300 union officials in Toronto last Thursday. “There’s no bigger champion out there for tradespeople than Premier Ford.” 

McNaughton went on to voice concern for “workers in Ontario being taken advantage of by some bad actors and bad corporations.” He talked of the plight of workers “making well below the minimum wage without pay stubs or transparency on how their work is assigned.”

August 20, 2012

Conservative governments “got it wrong” for decades with their approach to the labour movement, he said in the speech. 

“We’re taking a different path,” McNaughton said. “Not every conservative agrees with me, but we’re not going to slow down.” 

The idea of Ford’s party standing up for workers against big business is being met with skepticism by the PCs’ political opponents.

“They can kiss up to the unions if they want, but it’s their actions that make a difference,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told reporters on Monday at Queen’s Park. 

February 4, 2020

“Actions speak louder than words, and we’ve seen this government have a very anti-worker agenda all the way along.” 

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca similarly questioned whether the Conservatives will back up what they say with meaningful action. 

Patty Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents more than one million unionized workers, dismisses what the PCs are saying as empty platitudes. 

“It’s election time,” said Coates in an interview, adding that Ford is “rebranding himself as a friend of labour, and he believes that people will forget.” (CBC)