CLAC Says Arbitration System Is Not Broken

DATE: November 10, 2010

Increasingly, we hear calls from the public for the Ontario government to rein in arbitrators. The public is upset that recent rulings give wage increases to public sector workers despite the government’s wage freeze. This knee jerk reaction against arbitrators is totally misplaced.

First, the government, as the employer, cannot negotiate wages and also own the arbitrator. That is a conflict of interest.

Second, arbitrators have a well-established set of criteria proven over time for determining settlements based on evidence, not emotion. Public and private sector wage increases have largely mirrored each other over the past 20 years, with very little net gain for workers.

Third, the increases being awarded recently by arbitrators are largely cost-of-living increases. Prices, taxes, and fees continue to rise faster than wages, thus the increases being awarded by arbitrators don’t amount to a raise.

Fourth, there has to be some sympathy for employee differences in the public sector. The vast majority of public sector workers do not earn anywhere near the amount of those on the so-called sunshine list, who earn in excess of $100,000 per year.

Wage restraint for those on the sunshine list means little more than having to go to Tim Hortons instead of Starbucks. But for those trying to raise a family on $17 per hour, wage restraint means not being able to pay the gas bill.

Why is the government punishing low-wage earners who work hard performing very necessary work on our behalf? Perhaps the government should look at other areas of government expenditures before making these workers bear the burden of our deficits and debt. E- health anyone?