Most unions did not support Ford leading up to the election, according to an op–ed written by leaders of three large Ontario labour organizations.
“Make no mistake about it — the majority of unions and workers support Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP in this election,” the op-ed reads.
Fred Hahn, the president of the Ontario section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), said he would have preferred a different result but he was happy the Ontario New Democrats did better in some ridings than expected.
“There were predictions about the outcome for the New Democratic Party. They predicted that some very strong advocates would not be re-elected but they were,” Hahn said. “So it’s a pretty mixed bag of emotions.”
While CUPE and OPSEU are disappointed with the election results, there are some unions that backed Doug Ford while he was campaigning. The Residential Construction Council of Ontario, which provides admin services for builders associations, endorsed Ford along with unions such as the IBEW CCO and LiUNA.
Hahn said that CUPE Ontario is concerned about the future because the Progressive Conservatives have been intent on privatizing the public health care system.
“They [the Progressive Conservatives] handed over huge chunks of the public health response to for-profit corporations like Shoppers Drug Mart,” Hahn said.
