Mayoral candidate comes out swinging against unions
by Gordon Sova (gordon.sova@thomsonreuters.com)
The fall-out from this past summer’s CUPE strike in Toronto is still settling and, with elections coming this October, there will be more to come.
The most recent piece comes from mayoral hopeful Rocco Rossi who declared in a speech to the Empire Club of Canada on January 22 that he wanting to redress how weak the city had become in dealing with its unions. He also suggested the Toronto Transit Commission should get a board of directors made up of private-sector appointees rather than the current board made up of politicians.
It was intended to attract votes and it appears to have been successful, if response to the story is any indication. It’s good politics, even if it comes from a self-proclaimed non-politician like Rossi.
Note the difference in the popularity of Windsor, Ontario mayor Eddie Francis, who became a local hero for his stance against his municipal strike, and Toronto mayor David Miller, who was seen by many as caving in to CUPE.
To solidify his right-wing credentials, Rossi declared that he would sell off city assets such as Toronto Hydro and contract out services such as garbage collection. CUPE will not accept either lying down.
A municipal politician doesn’t have a lot of power when dealing with unions. He or she can’t change the playing field through legislation. If confrontation and not negotiation is the goal, all that can be done is to take a position and prepare for the consequences.
And these are consequences that it appears may have to be prepared for in many places. The political appeal of blaming unions, and public-sector unions specifically, is just too great.
Rossi’s stance is born out of anger at a strike and, ironically, its result may be even more bitter strikes.
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I don’t know anything about Rossi (I am B.C.-based), but he’s onto something here. There is little appetite among the public to foot the bill for union wages and benefits that are increasingly out-of-step with the reality of most workers in North America and around the world.
Taxpayers are de facto shareholders in a municipality (or a province or the country). Just as shareholders demand a better return on investment from a corporation, taxpayers are increasingly demanding a better return on their investment (tax dollars) in government.
The merits of whether that is fair or not can be argued by smarter people. But there is no doubt that the public sector is headed for a significant labour showdown, and it’s unlikely there will be much if any public support for unions. Politicians (and those angling to be elected) can smell the blood in the water. The general public would rather see bitter strikes than to watch taxes and deficits spiral out of control!