FACE TO FACE: Does the BC Liberals' net-zero mandate make economic sense?
While there's a lot to complain about when it comes to the Christy Clark government, the BC Liberals deserve credit for their principled stance against the growing costs of the public sector.
In 2010, in response to the biggest worldwide economic slowdown since the depression, the BC Liberals appropriately introduced a net-zero bargaining policy. Net-zero means the government would only fund increases in a given contract if they could find savings within existing provisions.
That temporary policy, however, hasn't stopped the unions from asking for the moon.
The BCGEU, for example, is asking the government for a wage increase of more than 3%.
Last fall, the BC Teachers' Federation made ridiculous opening demands totalling $2.184 billion.
And, contrary to union propaganda, the government has been very fair to organized labour in the past. In 2002, a deal imposed by the BC Liberals gave BCTF members a 7.5% wage hike over three years. In 2006, they signed a deal with raises ranging from 14% to 21.5% over five years and a signing bonus.
A 29% increase over eight years? Very few in the private sector have received those types of increases during the past decade.
The BC Liberals are now asking the unions to accept less as a way to help the province through these difficult economic times. It's an exercise in short-term pain for long-term gain that's taking place in almost every jurisdiction in the world.
My colleague opposite has railed against BC Liberal government priorities that he considers a waste of money. I agree with him - at this point, we need to consider all austerity measures.
Where we disagree, however, is that there is an endless supply of money to throw at the public service.
Greece - an almost bankrupt country - is a case study proving such spendthrift polices don't work. For the last three decades, Greek governments, primarily socialist in nature, have spent far beyond their means, especially when it came to the country's public sector.
Certainly, there are other reasons for Greece's financial woes: government corruption, rampant tax evasion and the monetary constraints forced on them by the European Union, to name just a few. The underlying culprit, however, was a lack of fiscal discipline.
In British Columbia, fiscal discipline begins with net-zero.
Andy Radia is a Coquitlam resident and political columnist who writes for Yahoo! Canada News and Vancouver View Magazine. He has been politically active in the Tri-Cities, having been involved with election campaigns at all three levels of government, including running for Coquitlam city council in 2005.
