
Public Service in Tough Times
Working Under Austerity in Manitoba
- 379 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
Public Service in Tough Times
Working Under Austerity in Manitoba
About this book
A scathing indictment of austerity policy
In 2016, Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba successfully campaigned on a platform to reduce taxes and restore the balance between revenue and spending. The years that followed their victory saw wages frozen, emergency rooms closed, intensive care unit beds reduced, healthcare jobs eliminated, Manitoba Housing funding slashed, and payments to foster parents decreased, as the civil service was diminished by 27 percent.
Public Service in Tough Times gives voice to the people behind the balance sheets, shedding light on the vicious cycle of understaffing, burnout, attrition, and despair created by austerity policy. Using survey data from thousands of public sector workers and carefully compiled statistics on spending and staffing, editors Jesse Hajer, Ian Hudson, and Jennifer Keith, demonstrate how cuts to government expenditures disproportionately benefit the wealthy and exacerbate poverty and inequality.
As the virtues of small government, tax cuts, and private sector investment continue to be the rallying cry of right-leaning politicians worldwide, this impeccably researched case study delivers a crushing critique of austerity and its consequences.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Childcare in Manitoba: Austerity’s Harms
- Chapter 2. Schooling under Austerity: Eroding Equality and Worsening Workloads in K-12 Education
- Chapter 3. Austerity and Advanced Education in Manitoba
- Chapter 4. Austerity and Adult Basic Education
- Chapter 5. Wavering Welcome: Austerity in the Immigration Sector
- Chapter 6. Critical Condition: Healthcare in Manitoba
- Chapter 7. Environment and Natural Resources
- Chapter 8. Supporting and Promoting Safe and Just Communities?
- Chapter 9. Looking for “A Wagonload of Luck” on “This Capitalist Earth”: Workers’ Perspectives on Income Assistance and Disability Support
- Chapter 10. Austerity and Child Welfare
- Chapter 11. Homes for Dollars: Austerity and the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation
- Chapter 12. Austerity versus Manitoba Women
- Chapter 13. Slashing Roses: Austerity, Sports, and the Arts in Manitoba
- Chapter 14. Austerity in the Department of Economic Development, Investment and Trade, and in the Department of Agriculture
- Chapter 15. Tarnishing the Crown: The Impact of Austerity on Manitoba’s Public Corporations
- Chapter 16. Something Needs to Change: Austerity in Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure
- Chapter 17. Austerity in Labour and Consumer Programs: False Economies, Reduced Service, Demoralized Staff
- Chapter 18. “It Did Not Make Sense”: Austerity in Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation in Manitoba
- Chapter 19. The Impact of Austerity on Municipalities
- Chapter 20. Austerity from the Perspective of Public Sector Workers “Behind the Scenes”
- Conclusion
- Epilogue
- Untitled