The distribution of income in this country is the result of policy choices we can fight to change.
    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
      10·
      7 months ago

      MNAs, not MPs.

      I don’t mind paying MPs/MLAs well. For one thing, they are nowhere near the top 0.01% in terms of income (they aren’t even in the top 1%) and the position’s salary should not be a deterrent to qualified candidates. Taken in the context of overall government spending, their salaries are minuscule. I’d gladly pay them all a million dollars a year if they actually did a good job.

      • xavier_berthiaume@jlai.lu
        3·
        7 months ago

        This is a good take. Ultimately you’d want the government to be made up of genuinely competent individuals, and you’d only get that by offering salaries that are high enough to draw the required talent.

        • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
          4·
          7 months ago

          Then why is it not applicable to nurses, or teachers or any jobs that have the government as an employer? Everyone was/is getting fucked by the inflation and we’re losing critical personnel by the spade while CAQ is voting themselves cushy raises way above anything reasonable. That’s the problem with the 30% raise.

          They spit in our faces and people still find a way to justify it. Stop licking their boot and demand better from our elected officials

          • xavier_berthiaume@jlai.lu
            3·
            7 months ago

            You’re asking the right question. It makes no sense that there aren’t raises across the board for healthcare workers who fall under the umbrella of working in the provincial healthcare system when the provincial leadership is getting a fat raise to counter inflation.

            That said I was replying to the question of “should politicians be well compensated” to which I still think the answer is yes, since it makes a leadership position a good career path for someone who’s legitimately competent in their field. We don’t need more people like Legault and his cronies in politics, we need working class people who don’t come from old and lobbied money, and the way to do that is by making local politics more accessible to the working class.

            And yeah, we should be getting better from elected officials, since right now it feels as though they’ll only listen to corporate interests, thinking short term until we’re back into the next electoral cycle.

          • cygnus@lemmy.ca
            2·
            7 months ago

            Then why is it not applicable to nurses, or teachers or any jobs that have the government as an employer?

            Relaxe mon chum… I don’t think anyone here has said that. Nurses and teachers should be paid well too (although I think working conditions are the bigger problem in their case rather than pay)

        • cygnus@lemmy.ca
          1·
          7 months ago

          Basically, yeah - not the “muh CEO is so smart they deserve $200M/yr” territory, but at least enough that no one would balk at the job because of of the pay. The Quebec MNA salary (after the raise!) is $131k, which is more than the average Canadian but not that much if looking at people who have reached the high echelons of business or industry.

          Edit: for reference the 1% in Canada is $254k annually

          • WiseThat@lemmy.ca
            2·
            7 months ago

            Given how many politicians have advanced law or business degrees, it’s not crazy that they could earn more by turning to private industry.

            Hell, one of the fastest ways to qualify for a six-figure job is to run for political office, fail, and use that experience to get a job with a lobbying or PR firm.

  • mycatiskai@lemmy.one
    16·
    7 months ago

    In western Canada a certain sweet product company is on strike. The workers don’t even want a raise they just want to get rid of a new shift the company wants to impose on the workers that is reminiscent of suicide shifts.

    so-called “suicide shifts” where workers are only off the clock for eight hours before having to come back in.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/23/why-are-frito-lays-workers-working-suicide-shifts-on-the-job

    The workers just want to have regular work shifts and the company won’t even budge, they only see profit if workers are fucked.

  • brax@sh.itjust.works
    9·
    7 months ago

    Of course they did, greedflation has been going strong for at least a year now… I’m surprised if wasn’t even more tbh.

    Time for some new tax brackets. Let’s start swinging at those pinatas!

  • Electricorchestra@lemmy.ml
    6·
    7 months ago

    Oh thank fuck! I was so worried that the top 0.01% was having the same trouble buying groceries as I am. Gotta think of those poor poor 0.01%ers.