UFCW-led priorities passed unanimously at 2025 OFL Convention

Toronto – November 21, 2025 – UFCW activists from across Ontario gathered this week at the biennial Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) Convention, where several UFCW-led resolutions were passed unanimously on the convention floor.

UFCW advocates spoke in support of a key resolution calling for the immediate inclusion of cannabis, mushroom, greenhouse, and agricultural workers under the Ontario Labour Relations Act (OLRA).

“[Their exclusion from the OLRA] leaves thousands of workers, especially migrant agricultural workers, without basic protections, even though they work in large industrial operations with serious health and safety risks,” said UFCW National Representative Santiago Escobar. “These are not small family farms. These are big corporate factory farms, where workers face chemicals, heat stress, repetitive-strain injuries, and unpredictable schedules, yet have no legal voice at work.”

UFCW Local 175 Executive Board Member Michael Collins shared his experiences working in Leamington greenhouses, after which delegates voted unanimously to adopt the resolution.

UFCW Local 175 member Jonathan Van Egmond also addressed delegates, urging improvements to workplace health and safety by amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to increase the number of certified worker representatives on joint health and safety committees proportionate to workplace size.

UFCW Local 1006A member and Indigenous Committee member Shane Morse spoke in support of resolutions calling for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to become a provincial statutory holiday, and for the OFL to fully commit to the 94 Calls to Action of Truth and Reconciliation.

“The work has just begun,” Morse told delegates. “As we move forward as a country, we need to move forward in the right way. We’re not doing this just for Indigenous workers — we’re doing it for all workers.”

Debora De Angelis of UFCW Locals 175 & 633 spoke in support of a resolution declaring gender-based violence and intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario.

Under the theme “We Are One,” delegates spent the week voting on a roadmap to strengthen Ontario’s labour movement and ensure every Ontarian can live a life of dignity and security. Delegates also re-elected President Laura Walton and Secretary-Treasurer Ahmad Gaied, and elected Mike Hamilton as Executive Vice-President.

Mid-week, hundreds of labour activists marched to Queen’s Park to rally against the Ford government and Bill 33.

The next OFL Convention will take place in November 2027.