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The time has come to offer a serious increase in the wages of all public-sector unions.
It is unreasonable and mean spirited to expect the workers of Ontario to continue to subsidize the Ford government for another four years.
With the high inflation (about eight to 10 per cent per year), the government’s paltry offer of 2.5 per cent will result in real hardship for the education support workers as their real (after inflation) wages fall further behind. The amount that the union is proposing is actually a realistic estimate to make up for all the government’s wage clawbacks of the last 10 years.
The Ford government wastes millions of dollars every year for high-priced lawyers in order to keep its actions secret, to prevent action on climate change or defend its unconstitutional behaviours.
The Progressive Conservative government can forgo billions of dollars of tax revenue from licence plate sticker renewals and from waiving gasoline taxes. Yet, you cannot find money to pay educational assistants, custodians, secretaries.
There is a wise, old expression that “you only get what you pay for.” We cannot maintain a quality education system without paying for it. After 10 years of wage decline (after inflation) it is not surprising that the educational support workers would feel unappreciated, undervalued, and misused.
Doug Ford may preach that he wants what’s best for Ontario’s children, but his actions certainly suggest that he is not willing to pay fairly for it.
The Ontario government seems willing to create a poisonous environment where workers begin to feel more like kidnapped hostages who may look to escape at the first opportunity.
David Howell
Orillia
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