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August 10, 2021
ST. JOHN’S —The ‘Big Reset’ spending cut recommendations in the Premier’s Economic Recovery Team (PERT) report would result in the loss of nearly 9,000 jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador if implemented, finds new research.
“We’re talking about a 4% drop in the number of jobs available to the province’s workers, with almost three-quarters of the job loss in health care,” said Mary Shortall, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour. “Shockingly, the final PERT report fails to calculate the actual number of jobs that would be eliminated or factor in how access to vital services, including health care, would be reduced.”
The devastating projected job loss figure is contained in the first of a new series of blog reports titled ‘A Fair Reset’, published today by the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour.
In the series, 10 leading economists, political scientists, geographers, writers and professors analyze the financial and socio-economic impacts of the PERT report and provide alternative, progressive recommendations to build a stronger, fairer and more inclusive economy.
“The ‘Big Reset’ is meant to stimulate the economy, create jobs and attract young people to the province. If the government thinks that the PERT plan will accomplish this goal it is sorely mistaken and workers will pay the price,” says Unifor Economist and ‘A Fair Reset’ blog author Kaylie Tiessen. “Newfoundland and Labrador’s economy could certainly use a reset, but not the one that PERT is calling for.”
Instead of eliminating jobs, Tiessen advocates for policies to grow the economy from the ground up by investing in programs and services that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians rely on and ensuring the jobs created and maintained pay enough for people to get by, provide for fair scheduling and deliver high quality services.
“Premier Andrew Furey needs to create good paying jobs, not take them away,” said Shortall. “I’m asking the government to scrap the Big Reset and join with workers and unions to build a post-pandemic economy that will increase family sustaining jobs, inject cash into our local communities and keep workers from leaving the province.”
‘A Fair Reset’ blog will be released weekly starting August 10, 2021 until the week before the scheduled resumption of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly on October 18. Future research blogs topics will include provincial debt, technology in health care, just transition and the dangers of austerity measures.
For media inquiries or to arrange a phone or Zoom interview with Kaylie Tiessen please contact Unifor Director of Communications Natalie Clancy at Natalie.Clancy@unifor.org or 416-707-5794 (cell).
