As Ontario’s provincial election approaches next spring, Premier Doug Ford’s progressive conservatives are presenting themselves as a party of workers.
This is a political makeover that could be a hard sell to Ford and his PC.
Ford came to power in 2018 in a religious war to make Ontario “open for business”. One of his government’s first bills was abolishing minimum wages, repealing the requirement that employers give all staff at least two paid sick days and end actions to facilitate some workers joining the union.
But now Ford is clearly preparing a fresh pitch to win for workers.
“We’ve always been for the front-line hard-working union people,” Ford said at a news conference in Windsor on Monday. I break down a brick wall to support them.
Ford’s Labor, Training and Skills Development Minister, Monte McNaughton, targeted 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 traders.
“We’re on your side,” McNaughton told about 300 union officials in Toronto last Thursday. “Merchants have no bigger champion than Premier Ford.”
McNaughton expressed concern that “workers in Ontario have benefited from some bad actors and bad corporations.” He spoke of the hardship of workers “being paid below the minimum wage without pay stubs or transparency on how their work is assigned.”
He said in his speech that the Conservative governments have “made a mistake” with the labor movement’s approach for decades.
“We are taking a different path,” McNaughton said. “Not every conservative will agree with me, but we’re not going to slow down.”
The Labor Minister will unveil legislation that says all workers will be better protected in the coming days.
In an interview, McNaughton said the COVID-19 pandemic revealed how vulnerable workers are used by large corporations.
“They have record profits and incomes in some cases. The government has a responsibility to take care of their workers and make sure the scales are balanced,” he said.
The idea that Ford’s party stands in favor of workers against big business has been met with skepticism from PCs’ political opponents.
“They can kiss unions if they want to, but their actions make a difference,” NDP leader Andrea Horvath told reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday.
“Actions speak louder than words, and we have seen this government have an anti-worker agenda.”
Liberal leader Steven Del Duca questioned whether conservatives would support what he said with meaningful action.
“Doug Ford talks a lot about being open to Ontario business. He never mentions opening up Ontario workers to protect,” Del Duca said Monday at Queen’s Park.
“Doug Ford is really on whose behalf, over the last three and a half years, it’s been pretty clear,” Del Duca added.
Mike Schreiner, leader of the Green Party, predicted Ford’s record.
“This government has eliminated the expected minimum wage increase.
The Ford government argues that it is already taking concrete steps to better protect workers, with many more to come.
On Monday, McNaughton unveiled new rules for temporary work agencies, including the provision of closure of temporary firms that violate employment standards. The government is creating a dedicated team of inspectors to root out the illegal treatment of temporary workers and recover unpaid wages.
Asked what else is coming in the upcoming legislation, McNaughton replied: “We are going to take steps to improve workers’ living standards, which will ensure they have higher wages and greater benefits.”
For PCs, the political message driving their message is simple: workers make a big turnout than business owners.
Party strategists say that Ford is doing well with blue collar workers and people doing low-paying jobs.
Ford’s ability to garner the votes of ordinary workers, including recent immigrants, is part of the success of PCs in Scarborough, Etobicoke, Mississauga and Brampton in the 2018 election.
Patti Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labor, represents more than a million unionized workers, dismissing what the PCs are saying is empty platitude.
“It’s election time,” Coates said in an interview, adding that Ford is renamed “a worker’s friend, and he believes people will forget it.”
Coates has a long list of things the Ford government needs to do to improve workers’ rights in Ontario, including employer-paid sick days, anti-scab legislation and classifying gig workers — those who run apps like Uber — as employees, giving them minimum wage and job quality protection.
The government calls the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee in June, mandating recommendations on “how to hire, retain and reward workers in a more remote, global and technologically advanced economy.”
Although the advisory group receives submissions from labor organizations, none of the members of the committee actually represent workers.