Harper's Tax Cut Photo-Op Factory Locks Out 420 Workers

The picture perfect location for an announcement of more than $1 billion in tax cuts in 2008 isn't so rosy any more.

An Ontario company whose factory floor was used as the location for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to announce sweeping corporate tax cuts in 2008 has now locked out their employees after they refused to take a reported 55-per-cent pay cut. London-based Electro-Motive, owned by equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, locked out its 420 employees on Jan. 1 after negotiations ground to a halt over what the Canadian Auto Workers say are drastic wage cuts. Despite the Harper government's zealousness to intervene in other notable private sector labour disputes – the Air Canada near-walkout in October, namely – Labour Minister Lisa Raitt has shown no indication that she will intervene in this lockout. As told to Canadian Press' Bruce Cheadle:

This is a dispute between a private company and the union and we don't comment on the actions of private companies," Harper spokesman Carl Vallee responded Wednesday in an email.

The prime minister showed no such reticence on Mar. 19, 2008 when he visited the Electro-Motive plant to showcase a $5 million federal tax break for buyers of the diesel locomotive-maker's wares and a wider $1 billion tax break on industrial capital investment.

"The prime minister's (2008) announcement related to the government's tax policies for all companies," Vallee said in the email. "A low tax environment is the best way to ensure job creators come to Canada and stay in Canada, as proven by the nearly 600,000 jobs created in Canada since July 2009."

A spokeswoman for Labour Minister Lisa Raitt repeated the same talking points in an emailed response.

So, to sum up: The company Harper used to promote the effectiveness of business tax cuts in stimulating job growth economy is now doing just the opposite, and now 420 workers in London, Ont., are faced with the choice between seeing their incomes halved or not working at all. Hey, Occupiers? This is the living, breathing embodiment of everything you guys were talking about last fall. It might be time to set up shop in Victoria Park again.