Wage rollbacks - time to consider?

[grefer]

Everyday when coward of the cottage ums and ahs from our front porch, he states “We’re all in this together “. I can’t stand to listen anymore but that’s what is printed about his mumble..and the millions or billions of new spending

Ok, so some small business has lost 100% of their income. Some 80%. Most have lost significant amounts and some perhaps many will not survive.
All the while public employees collect full pay. Sure, for essential work, it’s likely similar to always busy. For some, it is a paid home staycation.

What about an across the board cut to all civil servants, university profs and staff, city workers, RM staff, everyone with a pay check from a government. Like 20%. Even if it’s temporary til there is recovery from this economic disaster.

Taxes are going up. Way up. No question, someone has to pay. Should the small and medium size businesses that manage to sc**** by get hammered while public paid people go almost unscathed?

It’s something that should be considered. Better than layoffs for some and full salary for others.
University of Arizona just did something like this.

After all, we are all in this together

Unfortunately you cant make some blanket statement like that Quad and actually make it work without much collateral damage. There are many front line workers that put the health of themselves and their families on the line five days a week and who have the Government as an employer. As Justin is finding out,things seem simple but such is not the case.

[macdon02]

Most people can't afford that!
What happens when the people who can still afford to pay their debts are in negative equity positions on their house and autos if and when asset values start to crash?
Selling toys and staying home from the two times a year hot holiday's only goes so far.
Eat KD?

Everybody just walks away from everything?

Too bad a virus pandemic will push world economies into deep recession that few people are prepared to weather...... because money was so f-n cheap to borrow that so many people are maxed out.

But no one was expecting to be jobless before this happened.... maybe they should have thought of the possibilities?

Well for starters the availability of credit will be a fraction of what it previously was. As Errol has mentioned "Cash is king" i suspect land will sell for taxes again. We could possibly be looking at land taxes that rival a current 25 yr mortgage payment. Tax the rich like Jagmeet says. Niemann Marcus is going down, Canada pension plan owns half of that. If anyone finds an island for sale I'll go halfers. Maybe we can all sell out to the Chinese. Where's all the ****y bastards now that were saying if you don't like it, leave.

[Ab7]

Everyday when coward of the cottage ums and ahs from our front porch, he states “We’re all in this together “. I can’t stand to listen anymore but that’s what is printed about his mumble..and the millions or billions of new spending

Ok, so some small business has lost 100% of their income. Some 80%. Most have lost significant amounts and some perhaps many will not survive.
All the while public employees collect full pay. Sure, for essential work, it’s likely similar to always busy. For some, it is a paid home staycation.

What about an across the board cut to all civil servants, university profs and staff, city workers, RM staff, everyone with a pay check from a government. Like 20%. Even if it’s temporary til there is recovery from this economic disaster.

Taxes are going up. Way up. No question, someone has to pay. Should the small and medium size businesses that manage to sc**** by get hammered while public paid people go almost unscathed?

It’s something that should be considered. Better than layoffs for some and full salary for others.
University of Arizona just did something like this.

After all, we are all in this together

I don’t know if I’m a big fan of wAge cuts.
All of our sivil servants who bought a house,
Had to pay the price that the oil patch worker
Bid the house price up to. Now the oil patch worker is getting there pay cut. I don’t think the civil servant should take much of a a cut, they were never getting the big wages anyways.
Just my opinion

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I don’t know if I’m a big fan of wAge cuts.
All of our sivil servants who bought a house,
Had to pay the price that the oil patch worker
Bid the house price up to. Now the oil patch worker is getting there pay cut. I don’t think the civil servant should take much of a a cut, they were never getting the big wages anyways.
Just my opinion

It is not always just about the salary. The benefits in the long run often far outweigh the immediate salary. When you figure it out over a lifetime, I would take a teachers salary over a drillers paycheque anyday.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

A few weeks ago UFA sent out an email that they were remaining open, and that all staff were being given a permanent raise.

I can perhaps understand a raise if they are risking their health to remain at work with the public while everyone else gets to sit at home and play video games. ( although the Doctors and Nurses and other front line workers certainly didn't get a raise).

But to make it permanent in the face of mass unemployment, and likely deflation, just did not sit well with me.

[Guest]

Thats the problem , people yap and have no clue
Roughnecks were making less than labourers in alberta last i was there
Only way they made money was working 84 hours a week
Drillers made less than a person working at a plant or car factory
And told to go home several times a year and get SFA

[Quadtrack]

Unfortunately you cant make some blanket statement like that Quad and actually make it work without much collateral damage. There are many front line workers that put the health of themselves and their families on the line five days a week and who have the Government as an employer. As Justin is finding out,things seem simple but such is not the case.

Never said or implied it was simple. But make no mistake, there is going to be massive damage. Carrying on like there isn’t, could collapse the whole system. And some govt employees work damn hard, some are highly trained, and others much less so. Some salaries are way high (postal workers for example) and others are likely about right.
The point is some pain shared by everyone is better imo than some shouldering all the burden, and others with virtually no sacrifice.
For civil service, that means either lower renumeration or job losses. Businesses should not / cannot cover it all.

[burnt]

I don’t know if I’m a big fan of wAge cuts.
All of our sivil servants who bought a house,
Had to pay the price that the oil patch worker
Bid the house price up to. Now the oil patch worker is getting there pay cut. I don’t think the civil servant should take much of a a cut, they were never getting the big wages anyways.
Just my opinion

Really. What about the fact that many, if not most, civil servants are leftwing/socialist gov supporters? Teachers lots of bureaucrats...?

Let them practice what they preach - share the wealth.

BTW I fully support our front-line medical workers. They are on the firing line, as are grocery store cashiers, etc and they are not in i9t for the big money that Loblaws pays them.

[FarmJunkie]

I totally understand your position Burnt. We lost a great many excellent cattle people over a bunch of bullshit. This pandemic is no different than that situation in the aspect that it is way overblown. We do not hear a word about BSE at all. It was the “news” of the day and the media and as per usual ran with it to the point it killed our industry for years. Has it disappeared totally? No. Was the media doing their job by not questioning why the USA never had any cases? No. I honestly believe there are only half truths in whatever the media spews because they have their own agenda or only the agenda that bids the most for their services. This is why we are phucked.

[grefer]

Never said or implied it was simple. But make no mistake, there is going to be massive damage. Carrying on like there isn’t, could collapse the whole system. And some govt employees work damn hard, some are highly trained, and others much less so. Some salaries are way high (postal workers for example) and others are likely about right.
The point is some pain shared by everyone is better imo than some shouldering all the burden, and others with virtually no sacrifice.
For civil service, that means either lower renumeration or job losses. Businesses should not / cannot cover it all.

I'm not trying to pick a fight Quad but I happen to know a bit about front line postal workers. What would you consider a fair salary for someone who is a frontline postal worker in pre covid environment. Actually I think they should qualify for danger pay. With many businesses closed it is like Christmas as far as the amount of parcels coming through these offices. People dont seem to understand that they dont get to pick and choose who they deal with. They deal with them all. Many are not young people and so find themselves in the most vulnerable age group. Just saying. Its never clear cut and generalities seldom suffice.