Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, August 31, 2012

Civil servants next on wage freeze list, says Dalton McGuinty

WATERLOO—Premier Dalton McGuinty says his wage freeze crusade is setting civil servants as its next target.

“We’re coming,” he told reporters Friday while campaigning in next Thursday’s by-election.

Once the minority Liberal government passes its controversial legislation to impose contracts on teachers and ban strikes for two years and gets doctors “back to the table” for negotiations, efforts will centre on the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and a federation representing managers and professionals in the civil service, McGuinty said.

He took a shot at Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak for pushing an across-the-board wage freeze for all workers in the broader public sector, saying such a move could run into court challenges unless talks are held first.

But with a $14.8-billion deficit and credit-rating agencies concerned about Ontario’s finances, Tory MPP Michael Harris (Kitchener-Conestoga) said securing wage freezes one-by-one will take too long.

“This is a wage freeze on training wheels,” he said as McGuinty talked with a Waterloo lawyer, his wife and their children in an upscale home Friday morning.

The teacher bill could go to a final vote Sept. 10, or within a few days after. Hudak has vowed his party will support it even though it is “half a loaf.”

Aside from a wage freeze, the bill would impose three unpaid days off on teachers in exchange for allowing younger teachers to move up through the existing salary grid as they gain experience and halve their annual sick day entitlement to 10. Unused days could no longer be banked and cashed out at retirement.

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie

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