Eight trade unions endorsed the Ontario Progressive Conservatives for the Thursday provincial election, a landmark in the province’s political history..The Ontario Pipe Trades Council, which counts 22,000 workers, was among the first to endorse the Doug Ford PC’s, doing so in a press release on May 18. The press release cited the Ford government’s extensive consultation with industry, and millions of provincial tax dollars directed to safety and training programs for the trades.. “Never in our history has the Government provided so much support for the training and equipment needs of [our] workforce,” OPTC business manager James Hogarth said in the release..“The previous Liberal government had advanced an agenda to erode the value of the compulsory construction trades and closed the door on consulting the unionized pipe trades.”.Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, calls the endorsements a “feather in the cap of the Ford government.”.“Ford has been talking about how he's been boosting the unions and the auto workers. And he has been appearing at work sites with people who look like they're workers behind him,” Wiseman said in an interview..“It's significant. It's telling they're supporting Ford.”.During a campaign stop at the Toronto headquarters of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Ford held a “Get it done” sign at a morning press conference.."These are the people that are going to build Ontario… And we couldn't run the province without 'em, “Ford said. “I'll always have their backs, always.".The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Local Union 285 endorsed the PCs for their efforts to address labour shortages. They acknowledged the Ford government’s streamlined processes for trades apprenticeship and certification, the $114.4 million over three years for the skilled trades strategy, and $15.8 million to the Skills Development Fund for 2022-23 to expand training facilities..Scott Edward Bennett, a political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, says the trade unions know the PCs’ priorities benefit them..“These people will be major beneficiaries of the massive infrastructure expenditures that the PCs have in mind for the future,” Bennett said..“There has traditionally been a more conservative bent to the trades and their unions compared to other unions, but this has been nurtured and greatly improved to the benefit of the Ford government.”.The PCs have also been endorsed by the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; the Laborers’ International Union of North America; the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Workers of Ontario United Association Local 787; and the International Union of Operating Engineers..Bennett says Labour Minister Monte McNaughton has been key in reaching out for union support..“He is also on a mission to emphasize the importance of trades for the future. This may turn out to be a bit more complicated than one might think, but he has been very effective so far,” Bennett said..“This is a clever way of changing the future direction of the economy and society in general. I sometimes wonder who the mastermind behind it is. It could be McNaughton, but it could go beyond him.”.Membership in Ontario’s trade unions exceeds 50,000, but is still dwarfed by the membership in public sector unions that have not endorsed the Ford PCs. Under the Ford government’s Bill 124, public sector wages were limited to one percent annual growth. The Ontario Public Service Employee Union, which represents 180,000 members, supports the NDP. And the Ontario Federation of Labour hosted many local events in support of NDP candidates..The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation endorsed 47 local candidates. Of these, eight were Liberal, one was Green, and the rest were NDP.
