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Will PCs focus their attack on essential service workers?

Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservatives may be taking Christina Blizzard's suggestion that they trim their message and focus on attacking public sector "entitlements".    His response to the Toronto Star's dismissal of the PC municipal program was to attack public sector union settlements and interest arbitration:

"Dalton McGuinty’s broken arbitration system has cost municipalities hundreds of million of dollars for excessive wage settlements that hamstring local leaders and burden families who pay the bills.For nearly eight years, Dalton McGuinty has handed out unsustainable collective agreements, which set the benchmark for arbitrations with municipal public sector workers. ....On Oct. 6, Ontario families will face a clear choice between more of Dalton McGuinty downloading the cost of his broken arbitration system onto municipalities, or an Ontario PC government that will provide families with relief."
Hudak and the PCs may be unaffected by reality, but, for the record, public sector wage settlements (through collective bargaining and interest arbitration) are currently at half the rate of inflation.  For this year and last, they have fallen behind private sector settlements.

Will this approach become a major focus of the PC campaign? Finding scapegoats for economic problems among working people is nothing new for them.  In fact they tried, unsuccessfully, to bias the interest arbitration process the last time they were in government.

The odd part of this crusade is that it particularly targets police officers, who, as essential service workers, are required to settle contract disputes through interest arbitration, and who have done better than most labour unions with their wage settlements.

What has Tim Hudak got against the police?
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  1. AnonymousAugust 31, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    You aren't going to like this Doug, but the arbitration system is broken. There is no way that policemen in Niagara should be paid the same as policemen in Toronto, where the cost of living is substantially lower. The arbitration system does not take this factor into consideration and should. Average income of the area where the policeman serves should also be part of the equation. Public sector CEO and administrative salaries should also be modified based on these factors. Call it shared sacrifice.....but everybody has to have some skin in the game.

    Pat

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