Wynne buying votes with OPSEU offer

You know you’re in an election campaign when the government promises the moon to its public servants.

Earlier this week Premier Kathleen Wynne offered a 7.5 per cent increase to approximately 35,000 provincial workers, spread over four years. The move astounded even Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) president Warren (Smokey) Thomas, who called it “unprecedented.”

In a later interview Wynne was casual about the increase, citing a balanced budget and suggesting public workers have gone without increases for long enough.

Indeed, the OPSEU workers’ last agreement saw no raises in 2014 or 2015, a 1.4 per cent lump sum payment in 2016, and a 1.4 per cent raise in 2017.

“I’m kind of shocked the government actually made us any kind of an offer,” Thomas said. “It’s no secret that my union and myself, my executive board, we’re always in a battle with the government … we’re at odds with them on a lot of fronts.”

Not anymore. Wynne is using a strategy perfected by former premier Dalton McGuinty, who purchased union peace with Ontario’s teachers a decade ago by giving them what they wanted. The teachers and their unions were onside with McGuinty’s Liberals as long as money flowed from Queen’s Park.

Recently, Wynne and her government offered the province’s teachers and education workers two-year extensions that came with four per cent raises, along with more than $275 million in additional funding.

Both agreements were reached well before the election. OPSEU workers will vote on the proposal later this month, even though their contract doesn’t expire until Dec. 31.

When was the last time a government reached an agreement with its workers six months early? Thomas is correct: this is unprecedented. The premier is brushing off criticism. “My position has always been, since I’ve been in elected politics … that good relationships with our labour partners is good for the people of the province.”

OK. But even Thomas suspects there’s more behind the generosity, saying the offer to OPSEU is all about next June’s election.

Wynne is a keen campaigner. The Liberals likely would not have won a majority in 2014 without the premier’s relentless politicking and cheerful persona.

Her approval rates have tumbled since then, but last November she promised the Liberal Party of Ontario she’d address her government’s failings.

Now it appears her solution is to get as many people on the Liberal bandwagon as possible — even if it means buying their vote.