The Editor,
Re. "Soaring civic pay criticized in review" (The Tri-City News, Sept. 24).
Being a civic worker with a master's degree who still makes less than my colleagues in the academic and private sectors, I take exception to the report by consultants Ernst and Young that was released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
I was also disappointed with the sub-headline your paper chose to run it under: "Divided cities need unified defence against unions: report."
First, the report does not just focus on unions. It also criticizes the pay scale for city administrators.
But more importantly, it is not unions that are creating financial strain on the municipalities, the province or the country.
It is not unions that mismanaged the school district budgets, leaving us with a $13.4-million dollar deficit.
It is not unions that have consistently cut funding to public education.
It is not union members who receive the exorbitant wages and benefits commanded by administrators and CEOs.
Unions try to ensure that the average person makes enough money to live a decent life while at the same time improving the everyday lives of all working people. It's time to stop this misconception and the resulting orchestrated race to the bottom.
Barbara Weston, Coquitlam
