We need an economic summit, now
March 24,2009
We need an economic summit to unite the three pillars of the
Ontario economy - business, labour and government - together as a team to
help the ailing economy.
There are all kinds of examples of progress being made when
you get the right people in the room. That means people from the boards of
trade, labour leaders, and people from the local, provincial and federal
levels of government coming together to develop a plan.
The best chance of achieving a balanced approach is by
drafting a strategy with the key players in the economy. Business will
point to the need for more investment; other unions know what’s needed in
their sectors. We’ll make our case that our members in education, health
care and social services can play a pivotal role.
Our public agencies involved in retraining the unemployed
people are seeing their caseloads increase at a dramatic rate. Our colleges
are turning away students as enrollment increases, and hospitals are laying
off staff.
The public sector provides almost a quarter of the jobs in
any community. Now more than ever, we’re needed to stop the economic
bleeding.
There are good people on the ground who want to help, but
they need the resources. Let’s rebuild the infrastructure of the economy and
get the province on the road to recovery.
Our
five-point “good jobs” strategy, found on this website,
calls for enhanced public services and guaranteed retraining opportunities.
And we think the economic development portfolios of the provincial
government ministries should be enhanced to once again fill a leadership
role in the economy.
The current economic crisis demands that all key players in
the provincial economy sit down together to put forward a strategy we can
all agree on. Working together as a team is better than each of us working
separately.
We are calling for the Premier to come on board.
In solidarity,
Warren (Smokey) Thomas
President
