OTTAWA, Oct. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today’s determination by the Bank of Canada to additional elevate rates of interest can have devastating results on the working individuals who drive our economy.
“With corporate profits at an all-time high, workers and their families are still being forced to bear the burden of the Bank’s singular focus on driving down inflation with aggressive rate hikes,” stated Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “The Bank of Canada is determined to push the economy into a recession, no matter the impact on individual Canadians who could lose their jobs, their homes and their quality of life.”
Rising rates of interest make debt dearer at a time when employees throughout the nation are struggling from paycheque to paycheque. An pointless recession would hit precarious and low-wage employees, particularly ladies, Indigenous, racialized, and up to date immigrant employees the hardest.
“Our economy is powered by workers. Without them contributing to the economy, this country will be in dire straits,” stated Bruske. “We need an open and transparent discussion of our country’s monetary policy, the best ways to fight inflation avoiding a recession – without causing widespread harm to workers and families.
A report released last week by the Canadian Labour Congress and Centre for Future Work proposed policy alternatives to rate hikes. The report explains the shortcomings of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate hikes and explores the economic costs of a recession.
The report also demonstrates the increasing inequality between workers and corporations. Business profits have reached their highest-ever share of GDP while workers’ share of GDP has decreased since 2019.
“Governments cannot continue to stand by while workers are asked to pay the price of an inflation crisis they did not create, while their share of national income has fallen drastically,” stated Bruske.
Canada’s unions are calling on the Bank of Canada to pause rate of interest hikes till the influence of earlier coverage interventions is obvious. In addition, all ranges of authorities should take measures to tackle and ameliorate the true causes of present inflation, shield Canadians in opposition to its results, and safeguard jobs and incomes.
A duplicate of the report may be downloaded right here.
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