Pay private sector more, not public less
Re: “B.C. must rein in public-sector wages, benefits,” comment, July 10. Members of the Fraser Institute believe there is not enough tax money to provide good wages and benefits to public-sector workers, as it is unfair to tax private-sector workers who work for lower wages and benefits. The authors argue the solution is to reduce the wages and benefits of public-sector workers.
I suggest it would be better for all if private-sector workers’ wages and benefits were raised. There is more than enough money in the money supply to do so. The real issue is the wealthy who have siphoned off trillions of dollars from the global economy (some of which surely belongs to B.C.) to place it in tax havens, shell companies and other shadowy financial instruments designed to hide wealth. As a result, this money is unavailable to be earned by privatesector employees.
Our fellow employees are not the enemy. The enemy is those who hoard wealth while the rest of us fight over what’s left.
The authors cite “economic reality” as the reason for their position. This reality is not static and is a function of who defines the terms. In 2018, the terms are defined by those who have the means to hide their wealth.
“Economic reality” could be redefined if those who hoard wealth were required to put the money back into the economy where it could be earned by “hard working taxpayers” those at the Fraser Institute proclaim to protect and advocate for. Jason Minard Victoria