| The Ottawa Citizen |
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
As a shortage of skilled labour threatens to engulf Ontario's economy, the McGuinty government is facing pointed questions about why it has given call centre workers apprenticeship status along with millions of dollars in training support.
Controversy is growing now because of Dell Computer Corp.'s decision to close its Ottawa call centre. Dell collected tax incentives of up to 25 per cent of the salaries it was paying to its 1,700 Ottawa workers -- worth more than $11 million.
The provincial NDP, the Ontario Federation of Labour and former Dell employees want the province to explain how a call centre operator can be deemed an apprentice.
"It doesn't sound like an apprenticeship program, it sounds like an incentive program," said MPP Rosario Marchese, the NDP critic for Training, Colleges and Universities.
Federation secretary treasurer Irene Harris says that by making new professions eligible for apprenticeships, the province may have inflated the number of "skilled" workers being trained.
"This does a huge disservice to recognizing the skills shortage in these trades," said Ms. Harris. "What it does is, it waters down the trades."
1 comment:
sort of like when Canadians voted for an accountable federal government!
There's a trend here isn't there...
lol.
Looked around here, didn't see one criticism of Harper's failed accountability. Hmmm. Wonder why.
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