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Provincial budgets set the priority of the government for years to come. For Ontario, Unifor members are fighting for a budget that addresses shortfalls in public services and reverses recent attacks on workers’ rights.
In a presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on Tuesday, January 29, 2019, Naureen Rizvi painted a clear picture of how the provincial government can and must change its spending to support working people.
“The fact is, the doom and gloom financial story that Doug Ford’s Conservatives are peddling simply isn’t true,” commented Rizvi, Ontario Regional Director. “Ontario is actually lagging behind other provinces in spending on public services, and spending on debt servicing is the lowest it has been in 20 years. The only crises are the ones caused by cuts to services”
From Dryden to Waterloo to Ottawa, Unifor members joined forces with the Ontario Health Coalition to demand better from the provincial government.
In a video filmed at the OHC rally in Waterloo, Unifor member Patricia Leslie commented that, “Cuts to health care mean reduction of services, job loss, equipment that's broken that we can't afford to repair. It means hospitals that are in bad need of repair that we don't get funding dollars for. Which means sicker patients and a sicker community.”
Unifor’s submission to the provincial government included calls to fully fund healthcare, including long-term care, as well as sufficient spending to fund affordable childcare, accessible post-secondary education, and direct support for the manufacturing sector. The union delivered an unwavering opposition to the PC’s moves toward privatization of public services.
Read the submission here (PDF).
All members in Ontario are encouraged to contact their MPP and demand that they support strong public services, and oppose privatization and cuts in the 2019 Ontario Budget.
