October 29, 2025 – UFCW 1006A members met with Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) at Queen’s Park to discuss issues important to our members and their families.
“Workers' voices deserve to be heard by elected officials, not just the corporate lobbyists who regularly have the ear of government,” said President Wayne Hanley. “Our members’ experiences are important to the conversation on the laws and regulations needed to protect workers and the public services we all depend on.”
Forty members and staff from UFCW Canada local unions in Ontario met with 31 elected officials, including MPPs and representatives from the Conservatives, NDP, Liberals, and Greens.
Issues addressed during the meetings were:
- the impact of the affordability crisis on our members and solutions to make housing, food and transit more affordable;
- improving worker safety in response to increased public abuse;
- strengthening labour rights to make it easier for non-union workers to access the security of a union contract;
- our concerns about the Conservative government's Bill 5, which undermines democratic accountability, erodes workers’ rights, and violates Indigenous and environmental protections.
"Addressing workers’ rights is important because we are the backbone of the economy," said Edward Brown, a union steward at OTG at Pearson Airport. "It meant a lot to get the opportunity to make our members' issues known to the politicians – they make the decisions on the bills and the law, so it's important to get our issues across and let them know how we feel."
At the legislature, members also had the opportunity to observe question period. NDP leader Marit Stiles, leader of the official opposition, publicly welcomed UFCW Canada members and staff to the chamber before holding the government to account during question period.
“The majority of the voting population are workers like us, and we want to make sure working-class voices are heard by politicians,” said Emily Boyer, a union steward at the Whitby Superstore. “This was my first time at Queen’s Park and it was really interesting because we are talking to politicians who have a vote to change our lives – and they are listening to what I have to say. I felt empowered by the experience and gained confidence from it.”
