In the wake of the McGuinty government’s imposition of a salary freeze on Ontario’s elementary and secondary teachers, the government has now indicated that it will extend this freeze to the broader public sector. Such a freeze would apply to university sector, including professors and academic librarians.
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan announced a freeze of executive salaries in the broader public sector. During his press conference, Minister Duncan indicated that “further measures” would be announced “soon”. It is likely that this means an across-the-board compensation freeze. It is still unclear when exactly broader public sector compensation legislation will be introduced, but OCUFA will be ready to fight back when it does.
Premier McGuinty had promised that the Liberal government would respect collective agreements and the bargaining process. However, the teacher legislation shows that McGuinty is willing to break his promise when convenient.
Over the coming weeks, we will be meeting with MPPs to register our opposition to a wage freeze bill that strips employees of their collective bargaining rights. We will help our members challenge the legislation directly. OCUFA will also be active in the public eye, taking our case to the media and Ontarians, as well as working with other unions and associations.
Should McGuinty break his promise, OCUFA will respond wherever and however we can. Legislated compensation freezes are actually payroll cuts that hurt individuals, their families, and their communities. Worse, they don’t even work; as the Premier’s own advisors have pointed out, freezes deliver little real savings in the long term.
This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.