It’s official. Reduced public services and cheap labour are the
cornerstones of Ontario Conservatives’ latest economic scheme, as
outlined in their recent white paper on “flexible labour markets.” For
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, “prosperity” means turning
Ontario into a low-wage, regulation-free haven where corporations rake
in profit at the expense of Ontario workers, communities and the
environment. Gone, scoffs Hudak, are the days when an ordinary person
could imagine a lifetime of work, with a modicum of job security, that
paid enough to enjoy a few niceties in life, perhaps even the occasional
vacation.
To Hudak, flexible labour means cheap labour — and permanent uncertainty for those who take home a paycheque in exchange for a day’s work.
When Caterpillar workers at Electro-Motive Diesel in London, Ont., rejected a 50 per cent wage cut, the company relocated the plant to Muncie, Indiana, where the wages averaged $13.50 per hour — less than half the earnings of the skilled London workers. This news came in spite of Caterpillar’s posting a nearly 60 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit in 2011 and the highest yearly growth rate since 1947.
Rather than challenging his federal counterpart Stephen Harper for allowing the company to reap tax cuts, make record profits and skip town, Hudak blamed the workers for expecting middle-class jobs. And now he is marching lock-step with Harper, who has expanded the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to allow employers greater leeway to import disposable workers from all over the world. When the work is done, or if workers are maimed on the job, they are sent back to their home countries with nary a thought. Harper then gave the signal to cut wages for these workers by up to 15 per cent and is pushing unemployed workers to accept these jobs at basement wages. Cheap, flexible and disposable labour: this is the Conservatives’ shared agenda, from Stephen Harper to Tim Hudak.
Yet Hudak’s concern for fairness and transparency does not apply to his corporate backers. According to a recent study of Ontario election finances, between 2004 and 2011, more than 40 per cent of Progressive Conservatives’ funds — $26 million — came from employers. By contrast, the New Democratic Party received a paltry $666,000 from companies. Corporations provided almost 40 per cent of all election financing; union contributions made up a mere 5 per cent. In last October’s provincial election, more than 500 corporations contributed to Hudak’s campaign, including some 40 numbered companies whose dealings are unknown since there is no financial disclosure requirement for private companies.
Continue reading here.
To Hudak, flexible labour means cheap labour — and permanent uncertainty for those who take home a paycheque in exchange for a day’s work.
When Caterpillar workers at Electro-Motive Diesel in London, Ont., rejected a 50 per cent wage cut, the company relocated the plant to Muncie, Indiana, where the wages averaged $13.50 per hour — less than half the earnings of the skilled London workers. This news came in spite of Caterpillar’s posting a nearly 60 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit in 2011 and the highest yearly growth rate since 1947.
Rather than challenging his federal counterpart Stephen Harper for allowing the company to reap tax cuts, make record profits and skip town, Hudak blamed the workers for expecting middle-class jobs. And now he is marching lock-step with Harper, who has expanded the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to allow employers greater leeway to import disposable workers from all over the world. When the work is done, or if workers are maimed on the job, they are sent back to their home countries with nary a thought. Harper then gave the signal to cut wages for these workers by up to 15 per cent and is pushing unemployed workers to accept these jobs at basement wages. Cheap, flexible and disposable labour: this is the Conservatives’ shared agenda, from Stephen Harper to Tim Hudak.
Yet Hudak’s concern for fairness and transparency does not apply to his corporate backers. According to a recent study of Ontario election finances, between 2004 and 2011, more than 40 per cent of Progressive Conservatives’ funds — $26 million — came from employers. By contrast, the New Democratic Party received a paltry $666,000 from companies. Corporations provided almost 40 per cent of all election financing; union contributions made up a mere 5 per cent. In last October’s provincial election, more than 500 corporations contributed to Hudak’s campaign, including some 40 numbered companies whose dealings are unknown since there is no financial disclosure requirement for private companies.
Continue reading here.
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