Canada’s largest labour federation has reelected a Belleville woman as their president.
Laura Walton was chosen for her second consecutive two-year term atop the Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents 54 different unions.
She spoke to Quinte News and says her priorities have not changed.
“Securing the best gains for workers, both private/public sector. Until we have workers making a wage that allows them to put a roof over their head and food on the table, address the 800,000 people in Ontario who are without a job, the work is not done.”
Walton says the largest challenges are with the province.
“There’s always an impact federally, even when we think about Trump and the tariffs and the international impact. Really what it comes down to is what do workers in Ontario need? For that, there is a lot we can focus on.”
She says she is not a fan of the recent federal budget.
“Anytime that we see that a government is going to cut jobs, it is not a workers’ budget. I am really, really concerned that we are not seeing an investment from the Prime Minister in workers. There are small little nuggets as I said (that are positive), but we are going to see massive cuts in the public sector.”
The Ontario Federation of Labour represents over one million workers, the largest provincial labour federation in Canada.
