Skip to main content
Skip to McMaster Navigation Skip to Site Navigation Skip to main content
McMaster logo

AltAusterity Digest #1: June 14-21, 2017

This week in Austerity news:

Jun 23, 2017

CUPE wins a $57 million settlement from the Ontario government over back to work legislation in 2012 – which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found to be in violation of teachers’ and support staffers’ Charter rights. The Province has not reached a deal with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) who are looking for a “fair remedy.”

The Eurozone governments and IMF have agreed to extend $9.5 billion in credit to Greece to keep them from potentially defaulting on their loans. The IMF has joined in principle, but will not distribute the funds until it is confident Greece can manage its debt in the long-run.

Finland began implementing its two-year pilot study on universal basic incomes, though early methodological problems are emerging. The Centre party, Greens, a far-left party, and the libertarian wing of the conservatives all back the study. Opposition has emerged from traditional conservatives, many Social Democrats and big unions.

House Speaker Paul Ryan aims for “permanent” tax cuts to promote a favourable business climate, though there isn’t consensus among the Republicans on the nature of these cuts. Despite the differences, Republicans are aiming to have tax reform done by the end of the year.

That's it for this week's Digest! Check back next Friday morning for another edition, or subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly roundup. We'll also Tweet each time we add new content, so you can keep up with our work @AltAusterity and join the #altausterity conversation!