Jobs strategy, employment on the agenda for Ontario NDP leader on 3-day Windsor visit

Employment and labour issues were high on the agenda when Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles met Wednesday morning with local unions, employment agencies and nonprofit organizations at a roundtable meeting in Windsor, calling for a regional labour and job strategy.  

Stiles arrived in the region on Canada Day for a three-day visit as part of what the NDP calls its All-in Tour of Ontario.

The NDP leader said the roundtable featured "incredibly important conversations" about the challenges that working people and families are facing in the community. 

"We also heard about the impact of rising costs, whether it's groceries or housing, and how it's making it harder for people to make ends meet," she said.

"Windsor-Essex has always been a hub of hard work, but right now too many families are being left behind."

Unemployment numbers 'are extraordinary'

According to Stiles, "Windsor-Essex is feeling the impact of the threats of [U.S. President] Donald Trump" to jobs and opportunities more intensely than anywhere else in the country.

"The [unemployment] numbers here are extraordinary. We know they're the second highest in the country. They might even have reached the highest," Stiles said.

"New Democrats are going to keep fighting for good jobs, we're going to keep fighting for strong public services and for a fair economy because everyone deserves a chance to build a good life here in Windsor-Essex and all across the province," she said.

Later in the day Stiles also joined Canadian Hearing Services workers, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) workers and Best Western hotel workers at their picket lines.

Roughly 200 workers across Ontario who support people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing have been on strike for the last 10 weeks in an effort to secure higher wages.

"I have not had to use Canadian Hearing Services in my life and in my family and I am absolutely appalled at how they are treating their employees," Stiles said.

Kathrine Bridge, a social worker with Canadian Hearing Services, said it's "disgusting" how the board is treating the employees who "have just been doing a stellar job." 

CBC News has reached out to Canadian Hearing Services for comment. 

MPP Lisa Gretzky said the workers want the Canadian Hearing Services board to get back to the table with a fair offer and a fair agreement. 

"This is impacting the workers, it's impacting people in our community, it's impacting their ability to work, it's impacting their ability to access health care, it's inhibiting children's ability to access education," Gretzky said.

Meanwhile, Unifor Local 195 President Emile Nabbout said workers at Best Western hotel in downtown Windsor are continuing their strike action for higher pay.

The roughly 40 members of the union have been on strike since June 1.

Nabbout said the workers are "determined to take a stand, to fight for their job, for their family and for the community."

CBC News has reached out to Canadian Hearing Services and Best Western for comment.