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Economics

Austerity doesn’t work - Ontario can reach balance by enhancing public services, equality and tax fairness

Jan 31, 2012 12:02 PM This presentation, by CUPE economist Toby Sanger to the Ontario Commission on Public Services and Tax Fairness, argues that austerity measures will damage the economy, shows public sector pay is at reasonable levels and demonstrates that Ontario can reach a balanced budget by enhancing public services, equality and tax fairness. View the PowerPoint presentation. more »

Stop the Corporate Tax Giveaways! Take Action Now!

Jan 26, 2012 02:54 PM From 2000 to 2011 the corporate tax rate was slashed from 28% to 16.5%. As of January 1, 2012 it fell another 1.5% to 15%. What's been the value to Canadians? Let Finance Minister Jim Flaherty know he's got his priorities for the next budget all wrong. Send a letter today! more »

The Climate for Bargaining: Presentation at Ontario School Board Conference

Feb 2, 2012 03:26 PM Presentation by CUPE Economist Toby Sanger about the climate for bargaining at the CUPE Ontario School Board Co-ordinating Committee Bargaining Conference, held in Richmond Hill, 1 February, 2012. more »

CUPE’s Inflation Calculator updated

Feb 2, 2012 03:35 PM CUPE’s online Inflation Calculator has been updated with annual averages for 2011. This easy-to-use tool provides a calculation of annual inflation using the Consumer Price Index for all provinces and major cities in Canada. more »

Economic Climate for Bargaining - December 2011

Dec 22, 2011 10:23 AM With Canadian governments making cuts to public services and laying off workers to finance corporate tax cuts, inequality is going to get worse unless our politicians are forced to change direction. more »

Battle of the Wages: Who gets paid more, public or private sector workers?

Dec 12, 2011 04:49 PM The recession and resulting public deficits have put a spotlight on public sector pay and compensation levels. Many governments have enacted pay freezes, pay constraints and are proceeding with contracting out of public services, partly on the perception that public sector workers are consistently paid more than those working in comparative jobs in the private sector. This study uses the most detailed comprehensive data available on earnings by occupation and finds the reality is quite different. more »

Balanced approach needed in next federal budget: CUPE pre-budget consultation submission

Sep 13, 2011 10:49 AM Canada’s economic recovery is facing significant challenges from both within and outside our borders. Measures taken in the 2012 federal budget will be critical to ensuring the interests of Canadians workers are being protected. more »

Tax policy in New Brunswick: Time to check the results

Oct 24, 2011 04:03 PM Three years after New Brunswick adopted tax reforms it’s obvious that they’ve failed workers of this province. more »

Economic Climate for Bargaining - September 2011

Sep 22, 2011 03:23 PM Canada’s economy stalled in recent months, with a decline in GDP and no job growth over the summer. If there’s another decline in the 3rd quarter we’ll be in a double-dip recession. Rising fuel and food prices and sales tax hikes have pushed inflation and sapped real wage growth. With slow wage growth, household debt ratios are now at record levels, making our economic situation more precarious. In their upcoming budgets, federal and provincial governments need to not only increase public investment in the economy and create jobs, but also support measures to increase real wages. more »

Fair taxes for financial industry would net $10 billion: study

Apr 27, 2011 01:41 PM A new study written by CUPE economist Toby Sanger for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says Canada should join other countries in introducing fairer taxes on the financial sector that could generate over $10 billion a year. more »

Economic Climate for Bargaining - June 2011

Jun 30, 2011 02:16 PM Canada is in for a bumpy road to economic recovery if governments continue with the same economic policies. Public sector austerity measures, layoffs and wage suppression will slow economic growth. Meanwhile corporations are accumulating $50 billion a year in surplus cash that they aren’t investing into the economy. The June 2011 issue of CUPE’s Economic Climate for Bargaining also busts the myth that public sector worker benefit from a pay premium: there’s just a smaller pay gap for underpaid workers such as women. more »

Flaherty’s axe or fairer tax? It’s time to discuss the full range of options

Jun 13, 2011 01:40 PM At a Parliament Hill press conference this morning, Canadians for Tax Fairness called for a national public discussion and political debate on tax fairness. Learn more at taxfairness.ca. more »

Don’t believe the hype! Economic Climate has the facts on gov’t spending

Apr 1, 2011 04:34 PM CUPE Economist Toby Sanger crunched the numbers and discovered that, in fact, government spending has been cut to its lowest share of the economy in at least three decades. Economic Climate for Bargaining frames current economic events in terms of their impact on public sector workers, and public sector negotiations. more »

Ground Fighter Jets, Make Jobs Not War: Think Tank

Mar 15, 2011 09:55 AM The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is urging the federal government to address Canadians’ real financial worries rather than sideline them in the political bluster brewing over a federal budget and possible election. Read the Alternative Federal Budget 2011. more »

Canada's incredible shrinking public sector

Mar 11, 2011 03:04 PM There’s a widely held myth promoted by right wing forces and now accepted by many people — that public spending in Canada has increased steeply and is growing at unaffordable and unsustainable rates. In fact, the opposite is true. more »

Redefining inflation: who wins and who loses?

Mar 11, 2011 03:42 PM For the first time in twenty years, the federal government could reduce the 2 per cent inflation target down to 1 per cent, change the type of price target it uses, or even redefine how it measures inflation. more »

Better alternatives: why the fiscal sky isn’t falling over New Brunswick

Mar 15, 2011 03:49 PM The new Conservative government in New Brunswick will also be tabling its first budget that day. It’s expected to impose austerity spending cuts, supposedly to reduce the deficit, while continuing to cut New Brunswick’s corporate taxes. There are much better fiscal alternatives. more »

Canadians call for banks and finance industry to pay their fair share of taxes

Mar 2, 2011 04:31 PM A large majority of Canadians support increasing the taxes paid by banks and the finance industry says a new poll. The result flies in the face of the Harper Conservative government’s insistence on proceeding with more corporate tax cuts as part of the upcoming federal budget. more »

Garbage In, Garbage Out: the real costs of solid waste collection

Feb 8, 2011 10:01 AM The discussion over whether Toronto should contract out residential garbage collection has been influenced by claims of potential savings that appear to be inaccurate or highly speculative. more »

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