Pay cuts or jobs? A false choice  

The BBC’s Nick Robinson tells us that Ed Miliband backs pay cuts. Oh dear! In his defence Miliband says “The priority has got to be to protect jobs.” I am left wondering how far you can take this approach before people start to say no. The most extreme example of wage cutting is happening here in Ontario where, on 1 January, the US multinational giant, Caterpillar, locked out nearly 500 workers at the plant in London, close to the American border. The plant’s previous owner, Progress Rail, was bought last year by a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Caterpillar. Now the company wants to slash their $35 hourly wages by half and significantly reduce their benefits. Caterpillar say they want to get wages and benefits in line with their US plants. If you go down this road where does it all stop? $10 an hour? This Saturday there will be a rally in the town and all the federal...