Dalton McGuinty: End the Bullying

OCTOBER 1ST 2012 UPDATE: AMAPCEO has negotiated a shamefully bad tentative agreement with the employer that sacrifices half our vacation just to get small salary increases for some Members (a.k.a. MORE Union dues). Please read this article about why we should vote “NO” on ratification of the tentative agreement.

The Ontario provincial government, led by Premier Dalton McGuinty, has ostensibly committed itself to fixing the province’s troubling fiscal situation. Such a goal is an excellent idea. It’s entirely consistent with this website’s ethos: live within your means.

I do, nevertheless, think this goal is quixotic — barring a massive funding increase from the feds. Why? Ontario gets completely euchred on transfer payments. The oil-rich provinces don’t include their resource royalties when calculating their share of inter-provincial transfer payments. Thus Ontario has fewer bureaucrats, fewer nurses, and lower per capita spending than most provinces, but Jim Flaherty still pompously labels Ontario a fiscal basket case. (Pro-tip Jim: the CMHC is a fiscal basket-case, yet you ramped up their lending and kept taxpayers on the hook.)

Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government, under the guise of austerity, have engaged in tough bargaining with a variety of unions during the summer. I’m not against fair, open, and adversarial negotiations.

So if I’m not opposed to the goal, and I’m OK with tough negotiations, what’s my problem?

I take issue with how the Premier has treated one union in particular: the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO).

On this blog I try to approach matters with a critical but impartial perspective. Unfortunately, I can not remain neutral in my private life when my ability to provide for my family is threatened. I wrote Mr. McGuinty a letter about his poor treatment of AMAPCEO, and I’ve copied three MPPs who I’ve supported in the past…

Dear Premier McGuinty,

I’m writing to complain about your government’s treatment of AMAPCEO, the Association of Management, Administrative, and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario, at the negotiating table.

The membership of AMAPCEO has been extremely reasonable. The union’s opening statement for the negotiations offered your government a two-year wage freeze off-the-bat in recognition and support of the province’s fiscal difficulties. A pay freeze sucks, because the cost of living goes up every year. But AMAPCEO has a long history of ‘taking one for the team’.

Nevertheless, your government isn’t just demanding a pay freeze any longer. You’re demanding many, much more draconian, concessions:

• You want to slash sick day entitlements. AMAPCEO members are not teachers; they can’t bank sick days and they aren’t paid out at retirement.
• You want AMAPCEO members to take unpaid furlough days (again, in addition to a pay freeze).
• You want AMAPCEO members to start paying higher deductibles for its benefits. This benefit package is already inferior to the package enjoyed by teachers. And worse yet, AMAPCEO sacrificed things in previous negotiations to get rid of these deductibles (although  there are still plenty of co-pays and limits). I’m not saying it should be a race to the bottom; teachers shouldn’t have their benefits cut. But, surely, if they have Cadillac benefits, AMAPCEO gets 2003 Malibu benefits.
• You want to take away members’ paid vacation days (again, previously gained at the cost of workers’ sacrifices). AMAPCEO members don’t get two months off in the summer or two weeks at Christmas or a March Break.

AMAPCEO has never gone on strike. The union has always agreed to binding arbitration if talks were to break down. That’s a huge leap of good faith. Are you afraid to let the conflict go to binding arbitration because your demands are so grossly unfair? Is it because any neutral third party would see your government’s bullying for what it is?

Let’s not even get into that pesky “bad faith” ruling.

I’ve copied two provincial Liberals – Jeff Leal and Lorenzo Berardinetti –  for whom I’ve voted, and another gentleman I supported before I could even vote, the Honourable Speaker Mr. Dave Levac.

Please start negotiating fairly and return AMAPCEO’s good faith. Stop demanding draconian concessions.

Sincerely,

Joe Wood
C. Jeff Leal, Lorenzo Berardinetti, Dave Levac, and AMAPCEO

Are you as outraged as me about the poor treatment of AMAPCEO by Dalton McGuinty and his government? Email this letter to your MPP (feel free to modify as you see fit):

Dear Honourable Member,

I’m writing to complain about your government’s treatment of AMAPCEO (the Association of Management, Administrative, and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario), at the negotiating table.

The membership of AMAPCEO has been extremely reasonable. The union’s opening statement for the negotiations offered your government a two-year wage freeze off-the-bat in recognition and support of the province’s fiscal difficulties. A pay freeze sucks, because the cost of living goes up every year. But AMAPCEO has a long history of ‘taking one for the team’.

Nevertheless, your government isn’t just demanding a pay freeze any longer. You’re demanding many, much more draconian, concessions:

• You want to slash sick day entitlements. AMAPCEO members are not teachers; they can’t bank sick days and they aren’t paid out at retirement.
• You want AMAPCEO members to take unpaid furlough days (again, in addition to a pay freeze).
• You want AMAPCEO members to start paying higher deductibles for its benefits. This benefit package is already inferior to the package enjoyed by teachers. And worst yet, AMAPCEO sacrificed things in previous negotiations to get rid of these deductibles (although  there are still plenty of co-pays and limits). I’m not saying it should be a race to the bottom; teachers shouldn’t have their benefits cut. But, surely, if they have Cadillac benefits, AMAPCEO gets 2003 Malibu benefits.
• You want to take away members’ paid vacation days (again, previously gained at the cost of workers’ sacrifices). AMAPCEO members don’t get two months off in the summer or two weeks at Christmas or a March Break.

AMAPCEO has never gone on strike. The union has always agreed to binding arbitration if talks were to break down. That’s a huge leap of good faith. Are you afraid to let the conflict go to binding arbitration because your demands are so grossly unfair? Is it because any neutral third party would see your government’s bullying for what it is?

Let’s not even get into that pesky “bad faith” ruling.

Please start negotiating fairly and return AMAPCEO’s good faith. Stop demanding draconian concessions.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Ontarian