Union’s first-ever endorsement of the PCs driven by the party’s strong commitment to investing in skilled trades and protecting Ontario workers
TORONTO, February 25, 2025 — Today, Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs welcomed their first-ever endorsement from UNITE HERE! Local 75, which represents more than 8,000 members in the Greater Toronto Area’s service and hospitality sector. Their endorsement reflects the Ontario PCs’ strong commitment to investing in workers, boosting economic growth and protecting Ontario against the threat of President Trump’s tariffs.
“I am honoured to receive the endorsement of Guled Warsame and the more than 8,000 members of UNITE HERE! Local 75,” said Doug Ford. “With President Trump set to impose tariffs starting next week, I’m asking the people of Ontario for a strong mandate to do whatever it takes to stand up for our workers, and I’m deeply grateful for the support of UNITE HERE! Local 75 as we protect Ontario.”
“Hospitality workers have long been overlooked, but through investments in skills training and workforce development, we’ve seen real action that directly benefits our members,” said Guled Warsame, President of UNITE HERE! Local 75. “Under Doug Ford’s leadership, and with the support of David Piccini, our training programs have reached thousands of hospitality workers, helping them build careers, not just jobs. That’s why UNITE HERE! Local 75 is endorsing Doug Ford and David Piccini, with the hope that they will continue delivering for hospitality workers by raising standards, strengthening protections, and ensuring real progress in our industry.”
The PC government invested over $12.8 million in UNITE HERE! Local 75 to train the next generation of hospitality workers. This funding has provided service workers with essential skills, creating better opportunities for career advancement and stable, well-paying jobs in the hospitality sector. It has also supported training programs that help new immigrants and workers from diverse backgrounds integrate into the workforce with dignity and financial security.
Beyond hospitality, the Ontario PCs have introduced policies aimed at strengthening worker protections across all industries, including:
- Prohibiting employers from deducting an employee’s wages in the event of a dine and dash.
- Creating a new 27-week job-protected long-term illness leave for workers with a serious medical condition.
- Responding to increasingly modern workplaces and digital practices by expanding protections to include virtual harassment.
- Requiring workplace washrooms to be clean and sanitary, including increased accountability by maintaining records of cleaning.
Only Doug Ford has a plan to protect Ontario:
- Building Ontario’s economy by investing more than $200 billion in our plan to build roads, highways, transit and other infrastructure projects while investing $2.5 billion to train more than one million people for better jobs and bigger paycheques in the skilled trades.
- Protecting workers in the face of President Trump’s tariffs by doing whatever is necessary to protect people’s livelihoods, including by investing tens of billions of dollars to keep people working.
- Keeping us competitive by fighting the job-killing Liberal carbon tax and urging the federal government to cut red tape and streamline approvals to get big things built.
- Cleaning up our streets by protecting families and children by banning drug injection sites near schools and daycares and clearing out encampments from public parks with new investments in shelters.
- Delivering better care, including by investing $1.8 billion more to connect everyone in Ontario to a family doctor and primary care.
Doug Ford will never stop working to protect Ontario.
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