In his opinion piece, sick days costly for B.C. taxpayers (The Record, Sept. 20), Jordan Bateman, B.C. director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, concluded that public sector workers take more sick days than private sector government employees, 7.4 days to 12 sick days and that federal employees are the worst, taking 17.9 days, exploiting the system and costing the taxpayers millions, if not billions, of dollars.
In my opinion, one reason for the difference between private and public sector employees is that fewer private sector workers are under agreements and therefore, time off work for sickness simply means loss of pay. So, as a private sector employee, for example, there were many days that I should have stayed home for the benefit of my own health as well as the health of those working with me. But I did not because I did not work with a provision for sick days, and I needed the money to pay the bills and put food on the table. Far too many people go to work when they are sick, not the other way around.
Most of the employers I have known, both private and public, make it clear that if you are sick, stay home, don't bring your sickness to work and pass it on.
Fortunately, and to our credit as employers of the public sector, employees are not penalized from doing the right thing and staying away from work when they are ill.
I would respectfully suggest that, for their own sake and that of others, it is far more cost-effective to have people look after their health and, as a taxpayer, I am in full support of employees continuing to be remunerated for time off for sickness. In any case, although not mentioned in the letter, statistics will show that the vast majority of people do not use up all of the sick days to which they are entitled.
I also believe that management plays an integral role in setting an example and, yes, some few people will take advantage, probably as many as those in management who take time off - but then we have no statistics on them.
I find it insulting and unfair to talk about many government employees having no idea what it is like to live in the real world. I know and have known many public employees in my life, from those who work for the city I live in to those at the provincial and federal level. I have personally appreciated their role in making my life better - from the hospital staff to those who provide the services and keep the infrastructure working, often under difficult circumstances and in unhealthy environments, such as people who work with allergy inducing chemicals, who pick up garbage or who fix sewer lines, or those who work with infectious diseases, for example.
Finally, what really makes me nauseous and angry is that people who are so concerned about taxes seldom, if ever, take the time or energy to expose the loss of estimated hundreds of billions of dollars in tax evasion by the rich and the corporate sector through unfair tax policies, tax evasion and hiding their billions of booty dollars in illegal offshore tax havens such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
It is time they were brought into the real world of the 99 per cent.
It is time to go after the people in our society who are responsible for our tax problems, government revenue shortfalls, and the financial meltdown, and put an end to the labour-bashing of working people and particularly the public sector employees - the people who keep the wheels turning, where the rubber hits the road.
Bill Zander, New Westminster
