Government Cuts Civil Servants From Payroll
Union whines.
Environment Canada to get rid of 60 scientists
Expect the whining to reach feverish pitches.
"“This exercise is all about money and a government obsessed with the bottom line,” said Corbett."And oh my God. Some of them are climate scientists!!
Environment Canada to get rid of 60 scientists
Expect the whining to reach feverish pitches.
"Not all surplus employees may end up losing their jobs. They could be needed elsewhere and be promised a “reasonable job offer.” Those without such an offer, however, have three options — they can collect a cash payments based on years of service; get an education allowance for retraining, or go on the priority list for a year in hopes of landing a job elsewhere in the public service."Sounds like a reasonable severance arrangement to me, but what's with the "environment" spin?
Labels: Harper's hidden agenda, Mainstream Media, media bias, nanny state, unions
posted by Louise at 2:56 pm
3 Comments:
But...but "everyone knows", Gaia has ordained it, that once a civil servant is hired, he or she is there until retirement or death do us part! He or she is "entitled to that entitlement".
Arguably the worst case in the world is the British National Health Service. It's the worst case and the best teaching example, for those with open minds willing to learn.
The NHS is the largest employer in Europe with approx. 600,000 employees. And that's to service a national population of approx. 60,000,000. Now, when you factor in a possible employment starting age of about 18 and a retirement max. age of 65 and compare that to the same age demographic proportion of the UK general population, you get (not the 100:1 you might think) but more like 60:1.
Now bear in mind that only a minority of these employees are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, med. techs. The majority are bureaucrats. Paper-shufflers of one kind or another. In fact, when the Labourites got in power back in the 90's, they began a long-term process of hiring over 100,000 NHS non-medical bureaucrats based in -QUELLE SURPRISE!- marginal but Labour-leaning constituencies, or ridings.
This was blatant buying of seats for Labour by handing out civil servant jobs. These people could be reasonably predicted to be grateful voters for that wonderful Labour Govt who had given them a lovely seat at the public trough. And if any Conservative candidate in any of these marginal ridings would dare talk about cutting the fat at NHS, he/she was a "dead man walking". In return, the Labour Party would see that these bought-off proles were undisturbed at their, um, Labours. (Sorry, bad pun! ;-)
It worked, for 3 general elections, nearly 2 decades. Unfortunately, we fast-forward to today, and with inevitable promotions, grade step increases, indexed pay raises, these people can no longer be afforded. The NHS is closing hospitals, laying off doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. These people, especially the junior ones imported from Eastern Europe, India and Pakistan, are not unionized. The bureaucrats, on the other hand, are unionized British citizens. And, God knows, the patients aren't unionized.
Just sick or prematurely dying. Services are being rationed; new medicines are not being covered; waiting lists grow ever longer...but the paper-shuffling bureaucrats are safe at their seats at the trough.
And don't even get me started writing about the US Postal Service! The quality of their service declines in inverse proportion to the growth of the red ink on their annual fiscal results. But their staff numbers are constant.
The moral here: in any democracy, it is politically almost impossible to layoff surplus civil servants, especially unionized ones. I take my hat off to any politician with the integrity and guts who wants to try because it's in the public interest to do so.
"I take my hat off to any politician with the integrity and guts who wants to try because it's in the public interest to do so."
The Canadian Atlantic provinces are not exactly "vote rich", so the damage done would probably be minor.
Oops. Looks like I did forget the link this time. I'll have to see if I can find it.
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