Don't Cure Budget Deficits on the Backs of Rural Workers

Recently the NDP (New Democratic Party) government of Daryll Dexter stated it could not give rural government employees  the same 2 and 1/2%  rise given to Halifax public employees doing the same jobs. This policy will affect CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) workers - who do hospital support worker jobs with patients, and school support work aiding disabled children.  The reason given by the province was the dire provincial financial situation. The unfairness of trying to solve a management problem by penalizing the lower-paid line workers doing the hardest work is clear. It is an additional smack in the face to women, who make up 80% of these unionized public health and educational employees. The following letter was published in today's Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Dear Editor,


The province's fiscal crisis should not be cured on the backs of the rural health workers and school aides. They did not cause this crisis, which resulted partly from poor management of past governments, and partly from the U.S. recession which affects Canada. The crisis should be met by raising taxes. No one wants their taxes raised - my family, least of all. We paid lots of taxes while working and in retirement we continue to have our income cut through taxes. Yet we want the services, and we have to pay for what we get. Judicious cutting the fat off provincial spending is appropriate, but cut the fat and not the muscle. The hands-on staff who provide patient care and classroom aid to disabled students are the muscle which keep our society going. We must not try to solve the crisis by making this group, predominantly women, suffer pay inequity, but rather the whole 900,000 of us must chip in - when the pain is spread among us all, it will not be too much for any one group.

Maida Follini
 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia