TORONTO - The Progressive Conservatives plan to introduce legislation to impose an immediate two-year wage freeze on over one million public sector workers in Ontario.
Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says the Liberal government's attempts to negotiate a voluntary wage freeze with teachers, nurses, doctors and other public servants simply isn't working.
Hudak says the economic uncertainty created by the weekend elections in France and Greece and Ontario's recent credit downgrade require immediate action from the provincial government.
He says a wage freeze for the broader public sector would save $2 billion for a province facing a $15 billion annual deficit.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says the Liberals' prefer to negotiate with the public sector workers and will only move to impose a wage freeze if talks fail.
McGuinty insists he's not looking for a fight with labour groups, which he says Hudak clearly wants.
