Enough is Enough: Ontario Federation of Labour Launches Campaign to Tackle Cost-of-Living Crisis

Across the province, people like you are feeling the squeeze at the grocery store, the gas station, and as they make their rent or mortgage payments. While wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, corporate profits are soaring. We deserve better, and together, we can win better.

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has launched a new campaign to address the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting the people of Ontario. This crisis, characterized by skyrocketing inflation, suppressed wages, and a failing public healthcare system, is affecting the lives of millions of Ontarians. The OFL’s campaign brings together people from all walks of life to demand real change, put an end to this crisis, and say, “Enough is Enough.”

The Enough is Enough campaign has five key demands that, if met, will go a long way in improving the lives of Ontarians. These demands include real wage increases, keeping schools and healthcare public, affordable groceries, gas, and essential goods, rent control and affordable housing, and making the banks and corporations pay their fair share.

Each demand comes with a set of actionable steps that need to be taken in order to achieve it. For example, the demand for actual wage increases calls for a $20 minimum wage, the permanent repeal of wage restraint legislation, and an increase in the rates of the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works.

The demand for affordable gas, groceries, and basic goods includes calls for price caps on necessities in an effort to stop price gouging. We should not have to struggle to afford the basic goods we need to survive.

Everyone deserves a place to live, so the demand for rent control and affordable housing includes a call for a province-wide public housing program that builds decent homes in every community, produced in a sustainable manner.

The OFL has also introduced a six-month roadmap for the campaign, which includes a pledge, community meetings, and local actions that will lead up to a mass mobilization on June 3. The OFL intends to fight for these demands through a series of escalating actions.

During the campaign launch, the speakers were open about the topic of a province-wide general strike and talked about the steps and widespread support required to make it happen. OFL President Patty Coates emphasized that the campaign provides a structure for helping people from all across Ontario join the fight.

“We know that Ontarians are fed up and want action now,” said Coates. “This campaign provides a framework to do the hard work of getting organized in every part of the province. That starts with one-on-one conversations with co-workers, neighbours, family, and friends. That will lay the groundwork for a major escalation to ensure that we cannot be ignored.”

For far too long, working people have paid the price for crises we didn’t create. The OFL’s Enough is Enough campaign demands change so that the people of Ontario can live better lives. Now is the time for us to come together to fight for our futures, because we deserve better. If we work together, we can end the cost-of-living crisis.

Sign up today and join the fight at WeSayEnough.ca