With Scott Moe set to deliver another big debt budget on March 18, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Saskatchewan, which represents 31,000 frontline workers across the province, has put forward its plan to get Scott Moe’s budget deficit under control.
“Scott Moe’s waste and financial mismanagement mean there are fewer resources to invest in health care, schools, and other public services,” said CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson. “Stimulating local economies by boosting workers’ pay, investing in training and education, and making sure communities have the public services they need are key to getting Saskatchewan’s finances out of the ditch,” he added.
The following must be top priorities if Scott Moe wants to get his budget deficit under control:
- Stimulate local economies by signing a deal to pay health care workers more and stabilize the health care system;
- Redirect the millions of dollars currently spent on temporary employment agencies to fixing the health care retention crisis;
- Cap ballooning executive salaries and slash administrative bloat in universities, school divisions, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority – and invest those dollars into frontline services;
- Train Saskatchewan workers for the jobs we need in education, health care, and the trades by investing in post-secondary learning, and lowering tuition and programs fees.
- Commit to strong Educational Assistant (EA)-to-student ratios, setting Saskatchewan’s young people up for success;
- Cancel high-cost privatization plans for long-term care in Estevan and Watson, and;
- Ensure financial accountability in the CBO sector by ensuring funding goes to where it should: frontline services and workers.
“Without health care, education, training, childcare, and all our public services, there would be no growth, no new jobs, no workers. In short, public services and frontline workers are not drains on the economy – they are the economy,” said Peterson. “Scott Moe cannot cut and contract-out his way to prosperity. The only way to get Saskatchewan’s finances on track and grow the economy is to invest in workers, fund public services, end exorbitant executive pay, and stop privatization in its tracks,” he added.
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