Punch a Gift Horse in the Mouth

After five years of ignoring the flashing message "STICK NOT WORKING, TRY CARROT", it appears that the BC Liberals are looking to try a different approach in public sector labour negotiations.

Finance Minister Carole Taylor ....oops, Carole Taylor announced yesterday that $5.7 billion is being set aside to encourage Unions to negotiate long-term agreements, with signing bonuses if agreements are reached before existing contracts expire on March 31, 2006 (For a union like mine that's been without a contract for eight months, that money's already out the window). In making this announcement right after the blowback over MLA pay raises, this page has a hard time taking Taylor seriously (especially when she gets wardrobe tips from Andrea Martin).

It's also hard to accept when those most brutalized by the Liberals first-term mugging of public sector unions, i.e. front-line health care workers in the Hospital Employees Union, aren't even public sector workers anymore. Thanks to Bill 29, they became employees of deep-pockets multinational Sodexho, and they're still trying to negotiate a living wage. Of course, none of Carole's Carrot can be peeled off to these workers, as it would amount to a subsidy for Sodexho, a corporation that has way more scratch than Victoria. There's no way the BC Liberals would ever engage in corporate welfare, right?

Excuse me, I have a really expensive train to the airport to catch...