Windsor's largest union local is throwing its support behind Matt Marchand for mayor in this fall's municipal election.
Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy says the former president of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce has proven his ability to bring people together, something he says has been sorely lacking in the Mayor's Office since the days of Mike Hurst.
"That I think is the home run for us," he says. "The number one employer is obviously Chrysler. The number two employer in the City of Windsor is the casino, and local union represents both of them. So, I mean, it's important that we have that dialogue."
Marchand is running against four other candidates including current Mayor Drew Dilkens. The others in the running are Frank Dyck, Ernie Lamont, and Tom Hensel.
Cassidy admits he was stung when current Mayor, Drew Dilkens failed to reach out to the local's executive during a lengthy strike at Caesars Windsor.
"It was very bitter for our executive... the mayor said he was having a lot of conversations during our labour dispute with Caesars with [Regional President] Kevin Laforet yet there was no discussion with us," says Cassidy. "His comment was 'well, Unifor hasn't reached out to us', and I said, 'if I were the Mayor of the city I would be reaching out to everybody and anybody."
Dilkens did reach out to Unifor after a second ratification vote failed.
Cassidy describes Marchand's platform as inclusive and progressive and says Marchand has a history of being ahead of the curve on labour issues.
"Even before [former Premier] Kathleen Wynne introduced the [$15] minimum wage, Matt put together with other partners a living wage... a volunteer program for employers to sign up and move things forward," he notes.
The union local has not yet chosen which candidates it will stand behind in each ward, but Cassidy says those races are also a big priority for Unifor Local 444.
"I'm just shocked at the number of people who are running this time around for city council," he says noting there are 45 candidates running in all ten wards.
The deadline to file nomination papers to run in the election just past July 27 and the vote will be held on October 22.