Friday, June 15, 2007

"Working Families" Coalition Take on Ontario Tories

Ian Urquhart has done a pretty good job covering labour politics in the last little while.

This story is interesting and further displays the split in organized labour over party politics. Admittedly, these ads also help out the NDP, but in a two horse race, the Liberals are sure to benefit the most.

In the 2003 provincial election campaign, the most effective television ads were not sponsored by any of the political parties.

Rather, they were the "Not this time, Ernie" ads featuring unflattering photos of then-premier Ernie Eves, which were paid for by a coalition of unions calling themselves "working families." The ads not only tore a strip off Eves; they also allowed Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals to take the high road with a positive campaign, in the knowledge that the dirty work was being done for them by the coalition.

Now we are in a new election cycle, with the vote scheduled for Oct. 10, and the working families coalition is re-forming. It is expected to get the go-ahead at a meeting next week.

Among the participating unions are the building trades, teachers, and Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). The firefighters have also been approached but have not committed to joining the coalition.

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