Comment 72344

By JBJ (registered) | Posted December 16, 2011 at 15:48:00

Public sector workers make a very easy target for the right-wing to blame as to why the economy is going down the toilet. Most public sector workers know that comparable positions in the private sector generally pay much better based on the same qualifications, years of education and so forth. A day or two ago, CUPE put out a very interesting research paper that basically rebuts the arguments put forward by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) saying that shows public sector and private sector workers are basically receiving, on average, similar pay increases.

Yes teachers, police and firefighters have done well economically in recent years. However, ask teachers about the 8 years of Harris-Eves government; ask all public sector workers about Bob Rae's Social Contract in the 1990s. In those days, the public sector took a heck of a beating financially. It is no wonder that the same workers tend to get higher wage and benefit increases to make up for the years of zero percent increases.

As to the $30k raise for Peggy Chapman, the issue is transparency, not whether or not she deserves such an increase in pay. Why wasn't Council allowed to debate the merits of the pay increase? What criteria were used to determine the increase? The Mayor's deceit on this whole issue speaks volumes about his incompetence to be a leader of Hamilton.

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