A Brief Foreword by Doug Draper
Those who have been following some of the more news on Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak’s positions on the challenges facing the province and its economy, may know that he has made some strong statements about the need, as he sees it, to reign in the wage and benefit demands of unions representing teachers, police and other public sector employees.
Yet the following release, distributed this June 27 by the office of the PC leader and posted here for our readers’ interest, is arguably the closest Hudak has come to date to declaring all-out war on union leaders in Ontario.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 27, 2012
ONTARIO PCs RELEASE PATHS TO PROSPERITY: FLEXIBLE LABOUR MARKETS
QUEEN’S PARK– Ontarians will thrive in a future of balanced budgets, lower taxes, affordable energy and a well-educated, competitive workforce – but to help get there, we must modernize Ontario’s workplace laws, regulations and agencies, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak said today.
Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak
“The world has changed, and our economy has changed with it,” Hudak said. “But the rules governing the workplace, and the way unions are run, have not. It’s time to open up economic opportunities for individual workers, not union bosses.
“More broadly, this is about getting our economic fundamentals right – things like lower taxes on job-creating businesses, affordable energy and more flexible and responsive regulation.”
Hudak’s comments came with the release of a second Ontario PC Caucus white paper on bold, new ideas for restoring our economic fundamentals. Paths to Prosperity: Flexible Labour Markets follows May’s publication of the hotly debated Paths to Prosperity: Affordable Energy. The discussion papers are intended to spark debate and solicit public feedback on PC ideas to create jobs, spark investment in Ontario and drive economic growth.
The paper proposes action in four key areas: giving the individual worker a choice whether to become or remain a union member; making union leaders more accountable to unionized employees; modernizing outdated tendering rules to open up more government infrastructure work to free-market competition; and reforming Ontario’s workplace agencies to encourage – not discourage – a more flexible workforce and job creation.
Hudak was joined by Labour Critic Randy Hillier. “As an electrician and now as an elected official, I have seen the root problems directly,” Hillier said. “Rigid labour laws and inefficient agencies make businesses hesitant to expand and hire, increasing unemployment.” As evidence, Hillier cited one study by economist Richard Vedder that found yearly per-person income increases $2,800 with reforms like making union dues voluntary for the individual worker.
Hudak said such changes restore balance between the power of union leaders and that of the individual worker: “As it stands, dues are deducted from paycheques with little to no accountability, and can be used for purposes that many may disagree with. Employees can also be passed over for promotion or even lose their jobs for reasons that have nothing to do with their qualifications or competence. They can even be fired for refusing to pay dues.
“It’s time to get Ontarians back to work – in an economy that rewards individual workers – not union bosses.”
Please read a recent story in The Toronto Star on this issue by clicking on – http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1217880–tim-hudak-urges-sweeping-changes-to-strip-unions-of-power-help-business-create-jobs?bn=1 .
(We also invite you to share your views on this post below, remembering that NAL only posts comments by individuals who also share their first and last name.)
Niagara At Large 
I’ve said it before and I will say it again … as a conservative, I cannot and will not vote for Tim Hudak. I recently realized that there is a triple-H that scares the crap out of me … Harris – Hudak – Hutton. They are so far to the right that they make Attilla the Hun look like a card-carrying commie!
I am not a big fan of unions. But I also realize they are legitimate and often useful organizations. Without them, our society would probably be the type of place Hudak would love — and that Charles Dickens wrote about. The unions have helped bring about a good standard of living for Canadians. But now that our standard of living is being eroded by the so-called “global economy” which is really just a way for the big corporations to shift their production to places where they don’t have to pay decent wages or can use children as almost slave labour.
The one thing I think that will come from this useless drivel from Hudak is that others will see just how mean-spirited he can be … and will perhaps drive others in the conservative caucus and party to demand a new leader.
LikeLike
Mr. MacKenzie has said exactly what I feel. Some unions have become big businesses in their own right, some corrupt, and have more power than they should but that does not mean destroying them as Hudak proposes. The corporate/union relationship has always been a swinging pendulum that is often at one extreme or the other. Balance is necessary. Hudak is simply following the current US example eg, Minnesota and Wisconsin, of trying to get rid of them with all the incumbent retrograde repercussions that entails. Just like Harper and the American Republican party, his goal is to increase profitability for the business sector and to hell with John and Jane Q Public. This is becoming a global phenomenon and many countries are returning to Dickensian standards where workers must accept this in order to retain ANY job at all due to the threats over their heads.
Some European countries are facing severe austerity measures but not for the big guys, only the “peasants”. Suicides due to job loss and financial distress have gone up 40% in Greece this year alone. Pensions and social services are being rolled back but nobody in the financial sector or corrupt government circles seems to be suffering the same fate. (The Greek government kept two sets of books) . The head of the IMF (cannot recall her name) made a seven figure income but paid NO TAXES. Meanwhile she had the cajones to tell Greece that their default was due to people not paying THEIR taxes. Are our politicians experiencing a cut in their pensions for instance? In a pig’s eye. Meanwhile they’re off for the summer already…la,dee,da!
The extreme irony and hypocrisy of all this is that it is being touted as a cure all by someone ie Hudak, who has slopped at the public trough all his life. He’s a great promoter of the private sector, he just doesn’t want to work in it. It’s beneath his so called dignity. Go get a minimum wage job with crappy benefits and see how well you can live on it Timmy boy. 99% of politicians have never done a day’s physical labour in their life but see no harm in increasing the retirement age. I guess they figure everyone is a desk jockey like them so it is no hardship. They don’t consider those who do hard manual or stressful labour. As well, lets just uproot people from one area where their families have been part of a community for years to take a menial job far away or else they won’t get employment insurance. Why not destroy not only the family but communities as well in order to compensate for the waste and stupidity of our elected “leaders”?
LikeLike
When I visit Welland I realize that despite the obvious signs of it being in a post-industrial era, it is because of the work of the unions and the progressive voices of our members of parliament that there is still some prosperity.
Good pensions were won by strong unions which had a firm base in and lots of support from the community – and I suspect that those pensions are keeping Welland alive today!
LikeLike
Linda
Reading your article truly does ring of “Social Conscience” and it was once said that Jesus Christ was the greatest advocate of Social Conscience who ever graced this earth. Thank you you have expressed IDEALS that mirrors truth and hopefully the truth might someday be contagious..
And Will
Yes I agree Hudak is scarey and I also agree that some Unions have far exceeded their mandate in fact they have become corporate megalomaniacs concerned with themselves only. and to hell with all others.
LikeLike
For Mr Somers:
You mention that Jesus Christ was once called the greatest advocate of social conscience who ever graced this earth.
You might find the article at this link interesting:
I find it extremely interesting that the ultra-right wingers in the United States and here in Canada seem to think that they have God on their side. Yet, if one really reads the teachings of Christ, they are so far off-base it is incredible. They may talk the talk when it comes to religion, but they sure as hell don’t walk the walk!
LikeLike
LikeLike