Times are so tough in this province that it’s time for front line workers to give up 3.5 per cent of their wages.
That’s what the provincial government is asking its workers to do, but we should have a look at what’s happening at the top.
I don’t mean the MLAs – they have already given up their 3.5 per cent. I’m more interested in the chief executive officers of this province’s organizations. If they are going to lead a call for the front line worker to give up their salaries, so should they.
Let’s look at Alberta next door. The government there abolished bonuses and luxury perks – a large hit when base pay is something like $475,000 but total compensation including bonuses is something like $869,000. Benefits like pensions will be brought in-line with what the rest of the civil service pays. They are developing base salary grids that are more in-line with similar professionals in other provinces.
The hope of the Albertan government is to save $16 million – not much money in the grand scheme of things, but still a sizable amount.
In Saskatchewan, we’re merging all of the health regions together. That makes it a perfect time to sign contracts with the CEO, vice-presidents and whatever executives they have that feature salaries. The province is looking at school board administrators – maybe pay is something they can begin standardizing.
Look, if we have to make sacrifices to get to balance, we all have to make sacrifices, not just the people on the front lines.
