TORONTO - The President of
the Ontario Public Service Employees Union said that while Premier Wynne’s
first throne speech has some promising aspects, it will be her first budget
that really spells out the direction of the Ontario government.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
said that his union members have specific concerns on how the government
plans to deal with Ontarians who receive assistance from the province.
“While we’re encouraged that the Liberals will allow people
on social assistance to keep more of what they earn, it appears that Wynne’s
government still wants to move forward on downloading Ontario Disability
Support to the municipalities,” said Thomas. “This will result in a
reduction of benefits for sole-support parents on disability.”
Thomas said that, in the
weeks ahead, OPSEU will continue to assess Wynne’s government to see if the
new Premier will commit to preserving quality public services in Ontario and
ensuring that services are delivered by professional public sector workers.
“We are certainly not
‘partners’ with the Liberal government, and our priorities for public
services are very clear,” Thomas said. “We want assurances that this
government will respect the collective bargaining process for all unionized
workers in this province.”
Thomas also hopes this
government will focus on putting resources towards the “99 per cent” instead
of continuing the course of billion dollar tax breaks for rich and
profitable corporations. “We intend to put suggestions forward for the next
Ontario budget, and it is our expectation that we can have an open and
honest dialogue with the government that will result in making lives better
for working Ontarians,” Thomas said. “While economic costs are important, we
hope that the new Premier will focus on the human cost of service cuts and
strike a better balance than her predecessors.”
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