What do Canada, the US, and many European countries have in common? Debt, and lots of it.

It’s no secret that governments around the world have been overspending for years, but especially so since the economic crash of 2008. Many are now asking public sector workers to share in the pain of digging out from under huge debt loads by accepting wage freezes.

The Ontario government has asked the public sector to accept a two-year wage freeze, but application of this freeze has been haphazard at best. Some public sector workers have continued to receive pay increases while others have not. And those on the have-not list are some of the lowest-paid workers.

Public sector workers are not the cause of deficit spending. Their only crime is that they have continued to do their jobs—educating our children, taking care of our elderly, and picking up our garbage.

Across Canada and the United States, governments are trying to reign in public sector spending. In the US, the state legislatures of Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin are trying do this by attacking public sector workers and their salaries.

In February, the governor of Wisconsin shut down the state legislature. He is determined not only to freeze and cut the wages of public employees, but also to take away their hard-earned benefits under the pretense of saving money. At the same time, he is giving corporate tax cuts to business. Clearly, cuts to the public sector are not simply about saving the state some money.