The opposition parties in Parliament passed a non confidence vote against the Conservative Government. This was a historical vote after both the Speaker of the House and a Parliamentary Committee declared that the Harper Government was in contempt. One of the many questions arising from this is, “What can we do as UTE members?”
The simple answer to the question is, “There is a lot we can do, and we can elect the individuals who understand our concerns at the CRA”. Are you happy with how the CRA conducts their staffing processes? Are you happy with the current pay system? Are you happy with the CRA, taking resources away from compliance and enforcement, when the Auditor General just a short time ago criticized the CRA for the size of its receivables?
This government has frozen CRA budgets which will eventually lead to lay-offs. They cannot take millions of dollars out of their budget without reducing the workforce; term and indeterminate employees will lose their jobs.
In the federal budget that was tabled but not voted on, the Conservatives wanted to take away your severance pay. We cannot allow that to happen. Severance is a collective agreement right, and should be negotiated at the bargaining table, not legislated away.
All of us employed at CRA should take a direct interest in this election, not only for our workplace concerns, but for our families and our communities. How many of us live in communities where the manufacturing and forestry industries have been decimated? This has a direct impact on the value of our homes and the burden this brings to us, our families and our neighbours.
While the services UTE members provide to the public are not popular for the most part, they are essential to all Canadians. If taxpayers don’t pay what they should, the government will not have the resources to ensure health care, education, and other essential services.
You have to attend All Candidates Meetings. You have to ask questions of all candidates and ask the questions that are important to you. If we don’t ask the questions or take the time to attend meetings, nothing will change and that’s just not right. You have to write Letters to the Editor.
Exercise your democratic right and vote for the candidates or political party that gives the right answers. If we don’t, we will only have ourselves to blame.
The UTE National Political Action Committee (PAC) will soon be providing you, with detailed and relevant questions to ask of the candidates.
The questions will be posted on the UTE website at ute-sei.org.
UTE National Political Action Committee (PAC)