Listen Live

- Advertisement -
HomeNewsBC Federation of Labour continues fight for better minimum wage following increase...

BC Federation of Labour continues fight for better minimum wage following increase in Quebec

As of May 1, employees in Quebec will earn higher minimum wages than their BC counterparts at $11.25 per hour.

BC currently sits at $10.85 and is in the middle of the pack with the rest of the provinces.

The provincial NDP continues to champion a $15 an hour minimum wage if elected next May, a move BC Federation of Labour Irene Lanzinger says is already being adopted elsewhere and has been quite successful.

“We haven’t see a loss of jobs or an increase in prices. Seattle has a plan to go to 15, Alberta has a plan to go to 15 and they’re well ahead of us in terms of minimum wages.”

The concern of lost jobs and price increases went down rather quickly in the Emerald City according to Lanzinger.

“The restaurant industry in Seattle was one of the largest against the 15 dollar per hour hike and claimed they would all go out of business but are booming right now because putting money into the pockets of low wage workers gives them money to spend in the community.”

BC currently has the highest cost of living in Canada.

The only provinces that have a lower minimum wage than BC is Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Continue Reading

More