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OPSEU urging members to join workers rallies planned by CLC and other groups in major centres in the coming months.
Toronto (8 May 2009) - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE) says it is doing everything possible to protect the interests of hundreds of members whose jobs are threatened by the proposed harmonization of the Ontario and federal sales taxes next year.
Patty Rout, the union's secretary-treasurer, says OPSEU has been "closely monitoring" the situation since the plan was announced earlier this spring by the Ontario government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty.
"So far we have received no guarantee that all jobs will be saved once retail sales tax administration is uploaded to the federal government on July 1, 2010," Rout says in an update to members.
If the change goes ahead as planned, Ontario residents will pay a single 13% tax that will extend to a much broader range of services than covered by the existing provincial sales tax.
OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas sent a letter last month to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan opposing the harmonized concept on grounds that it will amount to "a massive subsidy" for wealthier individuals who should be shouldering a greater load through a progressive income tax system.
However, if Ontario insists on moving ahead with the plan, Thomas said the province should use the model negotiated by Ottawa and Quebec when the taxes were harmonized in that province. Under an agreement between the Canada Revenue Agency and Revenu Québec, provincial employees are given the responsibility of administering the new combined tax arrangements.
“(This) model may be the best to preserve public service jobs in Ontario,” Thomas wrote.
Participate in rallies
Rout says the fate of Ontario tax jobs is one of many reasons for OPSEU members to participate in a series of public events this spring and summer to defend the interests of working people during the current economic crisis.
"Over the next several months labour and community groups will be joining forces like never before to demand that the interests of working families take priority as governments attempt to navigate our way out of the economic mess we find ourselves in," Rout says.
"We are witnessing this collaboration already. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has been organizing rallies and town hall meetings across southern Ontario and I strongly encourage OPSEU activists and members to show their support by attending," she adds.
"On Saturday May 9 a CLC rally is planned for Memorial Park in Oshawa starting at 11 a.m. Apart from Windsor, few cities in Ontario have been as hard hit by the economic collapse as Oshawa....
"Add it up and rallies like the one planned for Oshawa are a perfect opportunity to show that working people won’t roll over in the face of job losses and government downsizing. Other CLC events in southern Ontario are planned for St. Catharines on May 27 and Toronto on June 13."
Rout says public events of this kind send "a strong message" to the ruling elites.
"Labour won’t back down from a fight, whether it’s over employment insurance, job retraining, protecting pensions, building public services, implementing an industrial strategy or keeping the banks on a short leash over credit card interest rates," Rout says.
"Business and government alone must not be allowed to shape the economic recovery. There’s plenty of room at the table for labour – provided we pound loud enough at the door."
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
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Ontario must use Quebec harmonization model