Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Per-capita spending on programs still lowest in the country, union says
TORONTO, ON -- While the 2018 provincial budget promises long-overdue investments in social programs, it’s missing key components that would help mitigate risk, says AMAPCEO, a union representing 14,000 professional public servants in the Ontario Public Service and six broader public sector agencies.
An ‘about-face’ after nearly ten years of austerity
Despite the Budget’s focus on much needed investment in social programs, this government’s per-capita spending on programs in Ontario is still the lowest in the country.
“This new spending is an about-face from a government that implemented nearly ten years of austerity—balancing the budget on the backs of its employees,” AMAPCEO President Dave Bulmer said.
For years, AMAPCEO’s hard-working members and all civil servants were told they needed to make major concessions—including a prolonged wage freeze—in order to fight the deficit.
This, coupled with almost a decade of austerity level spending, has had a negative impact on the planning and provision of the important public services that Ontarians rely on.
Government needs new progressive tax tools to increase revenues
“We are disappointed the government has not opted to implement new, progressive tax tools to increase revenues and make the Budget more sustainable,” Bulmer said.
Not including new, progressive revenue tools, the union warns, risks a return to austerity spending before too long.
“We will not accept a future in which wage constraints for our members is a route back to balanced budgets,” Bulmer said.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has recommended a variety of progressive revenue tools, including increased corporate tax rates, that would add more than $10 billion to provincial coffers.
Positive steps towards fairness on pensions
The Budget announces that amendments to the Pension Benefits Act are planned which would help AMAPCEO members facing split pensions resulting from reorganizations and divestments.
“For years AMAPCEO has been fighting for fairness for members whose pensions are negatively impacted by divestments,” Bulmer said. “We are eagerly awaiting information on how these amendments will improve our members’ retirement security.”
In another pension-related budget announcement, AMAPCEO applauds the pledge to make the increase to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Fund’s monthly payments retroactive to 2017 to allow Sears retirees access to the Fund.
“Pensions are a sacred promise,” Bulmer said. “They represent deferred wages and are foundational to a dignified retirement.”
Unfortunately, this is not adequately recognized in pension legislation—allowing private sector employers to not follow through on their pension commitments in bankruptcies. This amounts to wage theft for the retirees of companies such as Sears, Stelco, and Nortel.
Allowing retroactive access to former Sears employees represents a positive step for those who live here in Ontario.
Budget continues to put public servants’ privacy at risk
AMAPCEO is alarmed that the government continues to put all public servants at risk—especially women—by not taking action to #FixTheSunshineList.
Last week, the union revealed that the Sunshine List helped a stalker locate and continue to harass a dedicated public servant who had taken significant steps to protect herself and her family.
“[The Sunshine List] gave him enough information to be able to figure out where I work,” the public servant said. “With this information, my stalker was able to continue harassing me in the office.”
The union has launched a campaign to remove individual names from the Sunshine List.
The change would be easy, said Bulmer. “It’s a simple regulatory change to remove individual names from the list. And it should be indexed to inflation at the same time. $100,000 in 1996 dollars is about $155,000 today.”
Budget still exempts own employees from gender wage legislation
Nor does the Budget address the loophole in the Pay Transparency Legislation—designed to help close the gender wage gap. This Legislation would bar employers from asking a job candidate about their past compensation.
Yet, the government’s own employees—those who appear on the Sunshine List—are exempt. Removing the names from the list would help address this barrier to women’s economic advancement.