It's no surprise, yet still sad indeed, how the Fraser Institute and Canadian Union of Public Employees went mano-a-mano over working people's wages and benefits this week at the same time Oxfam revealed that the top one per cent of the world's richest people hold nearly half of all global wealth.
The Fraser Institute, which claims to be nonpartisan but certainly occupies right-of-centre territory, put out a release Tuesday claiming government employees in B.C. are paid 6.7 per cent more than their colleagues in the private sector.
It quotes Charles Lammam, associate director of tax and fiscal policy at the institute.
"An important way for governments in B.C. to better control spending is by ensuring publicsector compensation broadly reflects private-sector compensation for similar positions.
"As the B.C. government struggles with growing debt and in light of ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with public sector unions, now is an opportune time to examine the compensation of government employees, a key spending item," Lammam suggests.
Clearly, he's not talking about raising private sector wages, but lowering union wages.
Perhaps now is also an "opportune time to examine" Lammam's own compensation...
CUPE, on the other side, claims the Fraser Institute has got it wrong, "again."
The union popped out its own press release on Tuesday, quoting CUPE BC secretary-treasurer Paul Faoro.
"They want all workers to earn less, work more, and retire in poverty," he said of the Fraser Institute. "That's not even good for the super-wealthy backers the Fraser Institute represents, but their ideology blinds them to reality."
Strange how, in the same week Oxfam reveals its depressing but not-so-shocking report over the distribution of wealth, that debate here is raging over - of all things - working people's wages.
The Now