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EDITORIAL} Pay cuts may be necessary It should come as no great sr cprise that the Ontario government last week announced a series of caps on the transfer payments for such things as education, municipalities and hospitals. Already faced with a deficit this year of some $10 billion, the government how calculates that will balloon by a further $4.2 billion because of lost revenues from income and sales tax. Couple that unhappy scenario With the "down-loading" by the federal government (for the same reasons, by the way, loss of expected revenue from income and other taxes) and the fiscal nightmare just gets deeper and deeper. Ontario has probably been harder hit by the recession than any other area of Canada, and Premier Bob Rae wasn't totally playing politics over the weekend when he told a gathering of party faithful that the federal government is ignoring Ontario's He has a point. Just like Brian Mulroney has a point when he says his government is still trying to dig out from under the financial quag-mire it got from the previous gang up in Ottawa. A lot of Canadians might think that eight years is long 'enough to polvé the problems created previously, and if not, it's high time to let somebody else have a try. The that finger pointing and name calling won't help anybody out of the boondoggle. Government spending at all levels simply must be brought undér control, that's a given. But how, does a government escape a deficit when its own revenue sources are shrinking? Capping Sans payments is one way, pulling in the reins on new initi , cutting and the size of the civil service is pe another, But rather than layoffs in government ranks, would it not be wiser to cut wages and salaries across the board? Keeping | everyone working at reduced wages would spread the pain around, and, certainly & job with a five or six per cent pay | reduction is better than no job at all. Layoffs would only.add to what thre overall problem in the first plate. When people aren't workilig, they are not spegding and they are not paying taxes. They are collecting UI benefits or taking re-training ie, all of which costs tax dollars. Progr If we are going to get the economy turned around, the key is - getting people back to work and keeping them working. LETTERS To THE EDITOR Unemployment in Canada To the Editor: In responding, to the questionnaire from the Employment Services Outreach in Port Perry, I would like to offer several personal viewpoints and comments that are significant in today's job search environment. First, I might consider myself . lucky from the stand-point that I have university level education. Yet, this has not put me. 4t any advantage in seeking employment. Retraining courses at trade schools, manpower centres, campus schools .or adult Yet I have been told outright by two employers that "I db meet their current aul the op spite available, qualifications. On one occasion I travelled, 300 miles by car only to be told this "after . being pre- interviewed by phone. I suppose my point here is the fact that a level competitive ground is'not a reality of today's employment search. This is most discouraging to me and to.several others who were involved in the sgme business closure with me. There is no doubt this is a one that has my Massive layoffs ifl the public sector, including school universities, hospitals etc. would only serve to compound our ] problems. 'Are the unions and associiitions that represent civil red to open contracts or otiate new ones that include a wage roll-back? That had best take a long, hard look at this option. . Unemployment is killing this country. It's adding to the cost : /of government, cutting into government revenues, and Finding the d curtail their bust into the gr ab dee iom It'is a vicious circle. Asking civil employees to take a wage cut is a better - efforts to look xtension and training schools are significant for those needing - to up-grade qualifications in order "to is foros. affected all levels of the employment force. As noted. _sighificantly budget to hire. The one'conclusion I cy over this is that no amount of expense in re-trafning will result in immediate and lower unemployment levels. For p N ider the b now being re-trained at community colleges in all forms of clerical and functional computer skills. These people willingly accept re-training courses with the hope of immediate success in finding work. The fact is they are just changing the direction of of their job search from their previous line of work. Moreover, youth heading into, these programs from high school are faced with larger * Foye one section in the employ survey, all means to correct this tion seem to stem on g the opti -- to me, there were two common objections that I faced. The UIC office thought my at these was = amusi donhti programs 'the re-training of the work- force. , There is absolutely nothing present that approaches this crisis Im th the_employers 8g Ww ee 3 naturally alternative thanshuge layoffs that will surely come as budg owe: : A - They are not alone. A lot of people in the private sector are working for less than they did three or four years ago. But the Joyin t they are still working. * It will be interesting to watch as public sector contracts.come ie Toeing 0 eh a Tc sects Will they dare agree to a wage cut or at least a wage freeze? Or will they, take their chances on missing the laxofla which will inevitably arrive in the not-too-distant future' The country sim, dw to pot bahia following for the Jast several years. Plain and simple, the chickens have all come home to roostl Wages, salaries and benefits can no longer be sacred cows of the public sector any more than they can be in-the private sector. dy pos y schooling could be assisted in this manner. | Anothér objection. was that I was too young (at age 43) to ir hte types of assistance, since the typical age for this started at 45. Secondly, and somewhat hesitantly, IT refer to several politically motivated reasons standpoint. One glaring fact is simply that employers are not hiring, whether a person has re-trained or not. "This is yd reality at the present fime. Those with freshly up-graded work skills still meet with limited employment opportunities. Up-grading the workforce is an admirable goal and one that will eventually pay off. I have for shrink in the ken to many employers 1 do not wish to debate the free about. this and have been met agreements, or.any other With the same d and traini similar factors, ngr do I wish to response! Even if somebody is z sound chauvinistic. petition from adult re- training. I don't wish to sound negative, but it is tough not to sound that way after spending a fruitless 17 months seeking employment. Ov 450 resumes all across Canada resulting in 19 inte 8 can take its toll. 1 yéalize-to-omployment servicés survey may not be directed at persons with my, level of education. However, 1 _ shave learned one major fact during this frustrating time that may be of assistance. Rather than hire a person such as myself with a 16-20 year old university degree, employers are hiring recent grads at entry levels wages re-trained, we don't have the g them "on board." Turn to page ten published by Scugog Ci co-publishers Valorie Bilis The! tizen bi Lid. Citizen, an independently.