The silence from the Ontario NDP and its leader, Andrea Horwath, to accusations being made against two of her Hamilton MPPs has been deafening.

A few months ago, Horwath was loud and clear in her assessment of former Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown, when he was facing accusations from two women.

“I’m disgusted and disturbed by these sexual misconduct allegations,” she said. “Patrick Brown must resign immediately.”

And just this past week when PC MPP Mike Harris was turfed from the party caucus by leader Doug Ford over allegations of inappropriate sexting with an intern, Horwath was quick to call the Tories to account for not doing it sooner.

Yet here in her own backyard employees for Hamilton Mountain NDP MPP Monique Taylor and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MPP Paul Miller have filed grievances to their union against their employers and complaints to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in an effort to recoup some form of remedy for their alleged workplace harassment.

Not to be outdone, the Ontario NDP and the union representing the employees have failed to even say anything or, as alleged in the documentation from the employees, provide even a semblance of a safe working environment to the same the people it has preached to protect.

The NDP and its leader have unfortunately in the past taken cover rather than be upfront in addressing its own issues.

In 2014, allegations made by a then 19-year-old intern against an Ottawa-area candidate were met with caution rather than outrage.

Horwath said at the time the NDP “has very strong anti-harassment policies and those policies have been followed in this situation. The policies state that such matters must be kept confidential.”

In one regard, the NDP and its leader have performed admirable in keeping tight-lipped and the doors closed from public view in the hope that the issues go away.

In this time of the social justice movements involving anti-bullying campaigns and providing a safe workplace environment, the NDP has been usually one of the first organizations to stand up for the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the victims in society.

When talking about Brown earlier this year, Horwath properly established what should be the core principle in dealing with any inappropriate conduct in the workplace whether male or female.

“Sexual assault is not acceptable in any workplace and political parties need to believe and support women,” she said.