Statement to members from MGEU President Michelle Gawronsky:
On his first day on the job, Premier Pallister raised his own pay by 20%. Now he is patting himself on the back for "freezing" his new pay grade. That’s a fake freeze by any standard.
Our members have already agreed, at the bargaining table, to two years of wage freezes to help with the deficit. They don’t need any lectures on sacrifices to help the province’s bottom line.
It’s one thing for the Premier to freeze his salary when he makes $170,000/year and just gave himself a 20% raise. It’s quite another when you’re a health care aide making $42,000/year and you already agreed to a 2 year wage freeze in your last collective agreement.
What the Premier has threatened is to impose freezes through legislation and to roll back increases in already signed agreements. He’s not talking about seeing what can be negotiated by mutual agreement at the bargaining table. I suggest he go to the bargaining table with his proposals. I would remind him that our health care members have already agreed to freezes in their current agreement.
When this Premier and his cabinet raised their own pay by 20% last year, it cost taxpayers $190,000. Now they are giving back less than half of that ($70,000) and asking for a pat on the back? It’s a bit rich, and a bit disingenuous to say the least.