Letter to the Editor from Local 500 President Mike Davidson Re:“No numbers yet, but city tax hike looms” and “Winnipeggers can expect property tax increase in 2013” – November 9, 2012
November 09, 2012 at 2:07 PM
It is completely false for Councillor Wyatt to suggest Winnipeg’s municipal workers are somehow responsible for the city’s budget woes and thus responsible for the coming tax hikes for 2013.
The average salary for City of Winnipeg employees in 2008 was the lowest among eight surveyed Canadian cities - as cited by Bartley Kives in the Nov. 3, 2010 Winnipeg Free Press article “Bottom-of-barrel salaries may repel talent.”
Additionally, in the latest round of contract negotiations, city workers took a 0 per cent wage increase – a tough pill to swallow considering the difficult economic times facing so many working families in Winnipeg.
Councillor Wyatt himself has claimed that the budget problems are due to rollbacks and fourteen years of frozen taxes, putting a strangle-hold on our city’s revenue.
The blame for the city's financial problems should not rest on the backs of its own front line employees. These are the workers who provide quality, cost effective public services day in and day out. Instead, perhaps the city should stop selling off its assets and privatizing services, which at end of the day, costs more and delivers less.
Mike Davidson
President, CUPE Local 500
(Cell # 995-4182)
