Public sector unions strike again
If the Canadian healthcare system was a
private company, it would have closed up
shop and headed south for cheaper labour
years ago. Despite that the funding for healthcare
has grown much faster than the pool of
money it’s drawn from, organizations like
the Ontario Medical Association are in panic
mode, attempting to whip up a frenzy of indignation
over a government that supposedly
won’t put healthcare first.
It’s reminiscent of the teachers’ refusal to participate in extracurricular activities several years ago, during which scholarship opportunities for thousands of high school students were jeopardized because clubs and teams were suspended during the strike. There was similar moralizing about the sanctity of education and that somehow this was teaching children what it really means to live in a developed society.
Unfortunately, they were teaching the kids a crucial lesson that still rings true: if your union can convince people that it’s about morals and not money, they get more money.
Several groups of public sector employees are seeking new contracts this year, including elementary teachers and the provincial police. The government of Ontario has stated its commitment to a zero per cent increase in public sector wages in an effort to eliminate the province’s deficit by 2018.
It’s a strategy that is doomed to fail, and that’s almost the point. If you publicly state the intention of a pay freeze, even a miniscule one percent increase will be considered a victory. If the provincial government had committed to a two percent increase, the union would be aiming for three. The key is managing expectations.
If Ontario shut down the provincial government today and continued collecting all of its revenues, it would still take more than two years to pay off our provincial debt. The ongoing explosion of our debt is hard to care about when it’s seen in the broader context, because almost every provincial and federal government is in debt to a greater or lesser extent.
To put it in perspective, consider this: according to the Fraser Institute, over nine per cent of the provincial government’s budget is spent repaying the interest on the money it’s borrowed. The lower the credit rating of the province, the higher that percentage gets. Not to mention that the Ontario credit rating was downgraded this past December, meaning investors see an increasing potential that Ontario might not be able to pay back its loans.
Imagine that the provincial government is that young and carefree college student. Sure, absorbing that debt to privatize power delivery seemed like a good idea, and maybe they’d had a few drinks before they decided to bail out big auto, but those were one-time expenses.
Wage increases are massive ongoing expenditures. Public sector salaries make up a huge portion of the province’s overall budget obligations. The objective of the public sector unions is to make this about morals and not money, but morals won’t pay our way when the money runs out.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
It’s reminiscent of the teachers’ refusal to participate in extracurricular activities several years ago, during which scholarship opportunities for thousands of high school students were jeopardized because clubs and teams were suspended during the strike. There was similar moralizing about the sanctity of education and that somehow this was teaching children what it really means to live in a developed society.
Unfortunately, they were teaching the kids a crucial lesson that still rings true: if your union can convince people that it’s about morals and not money, they get more money.
Several groups of public sector employees are seeking new contracts this year, including elementary teachers and the provincial police. The government of Ontario has stated its commitment to a zero per cent increase in public sector wages in an effort to eliminate the province’s deficit by 2018.
It’s a strategy that is doomed to fail, and that’s almost the point. If you publicly state the intention of a pay freeze, even a miniscule one percent increase will be considered a victory. If the provincial government had committed to a two percent increase, the union would be aiming for three. The key is managing expectations.
If Ontario shut down the provincial government today and continued collecting all of its revenues, it would still take more than two years to pay off our provincial debt. The ongoing explosion of our debt is hard to care about when it’s seen in the broader context, because almost every provincial and federal government is in debt to a greater or lesser extent.
To put it in perspective, consider this: according to the Fraser Institute, over nine per cent of the provincial government’s budget is spent repaying the interest on the money it’s borrowed. The lower the credit rating of the province, the higher that percentage gets. Not to mention that the Ontario credit rating was downgraded this past December, meaning investors see an increasing potential that Ontario might not be able to pay back its loans.
Imagine that the provincial government is that young and carefree college student. Sure, absorbing that debt to privatize power delivery seemed like a good idea, and maybe they’d had a few drinks before they decided to bail out big auto, but those were one-time expenses.
Wage increases are massive ongoing expenditures. Public sector salaries make up a huge portion of the province’s overall budget obligations. The objective of the public sector unions is to make this about morals and not money, but morals won’t pay our way when the money runs out.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
