Major labour group issues challenge for provincial parties to earn the ‘worker vote’ this June

By Casey Taylor

If you want our vote, come get it.

That's the message from the Ontario Federation of Labour, which helped organize province-wide rallies over the weekend, including one in Kitchener, coinciding with International Workers' Day and calling on all provincial parties to lay out a plan which puts workers first.

“We know that there's an election coming up on June 2nd and we know it's imperative that we, workers and our families, make sure whoever the next government is that gets elected understands the needs and what workers need to see in their platform,” said Janice Folk-Dawson, Executive Vice-President, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).

The OFL is out with a list of demands touching on a wide variety of topics, ranging from healthcare to the environment, education and poverty.

“And the most important thing and one of the things I think is so crucial right now across this province is the health and safety of our workplaces,” Folk-Dawson said. “It was bad before [the COVID-19 pandemic], COVID has definitely exposed just how dangerous some of our workplaces are and the negligence on the part of our government and on our employers for making sure that workers are safe in their workplace and they're going home at the end of the day.”

Included in the demands is also permanent paid sick days, a $20/hour minimum wage, livable income support, and immediate climate action.

The Ontario Federation of Labour says this is part of a new approach — instead of backing one party over another based on current promises, the OFL is out with its own list of demands and will wait to see which party best rises to meet them.

“This time around it's not about us endorsing a candidate, it's about those parties endorsing what a workers' platform is,” said Folk-Dawson, adding they don't just want the promises but the plans to back them up.

“Many times we hear from political parties great ideas but we never see in the four years how that actually gets instituted,” she said. “So we're going to be holding them very accountable this time, [so] that whatever they say they will actually be enacting that.”

In the meantime, Folk-Dawson says labour groups need to prepare and be ready to mobilize even after election day.

“Because no matter who is elected on June 2nd, we best have a movement together on June 3rd,” she said. “If that's [an alt-right government] attacking workers, then we have to do what we've done for the last four years: defend and push forward workers rights.

“And if it's a government that has a workers' agenda in their platform, then we have to hold them accountable and push them for the next four years to make sure  they actually accomplish what they said they were going to try to achieve.”

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