Minimum Wage Hike Not Enough – BC Fed
Prince Georg e, B.C. – A hike to the minimum wage in this province will take effect Sept. 15 but the BC Federation of Labour says it doesn’t go anywhere near far enough.
The hike was announced today and is in accordance with a commitment the provincial government made last May that will increase the minimum wage by 50 cents to $11.35 an hour.
The increase includes an extra 20 cents based on the BC 2016 Consumer Price Index (CPI), plus an additional 30 cents. Liquor servers will also see an identical increase to $10.10 an hour.
Victoria says with this increase; the minimum wage will have increased six times since 2011. Predictably however, the BC Federation of Labour is not impressed.
“The increase allows the Liberals to pretend they’re doing something about poverty when they’re really not,” says president Irene Lanzinger. “What we really need from government is a concrete plan to address poverty, low wages and rampant inequality in B.C.”
She recommends the government could do that by increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour – pointing out the plan for $15 an hour has already been adopted in Alberta and Seattle.
“The Clark government could choose to do this, but they won’t,” says Lanzinger. “And that speaks to the choices they make and whose side they’re on.”
Comments
I agree with the BC Federation of Labour, this 50 cent increase will move individuals and families living below the poverty line closer to the poverty line, but it is not enough to move them above the poverty line.
Until individuals get paid a “living wage”, the high poverty rate in BC will continue.
ht tp://www.livingwageforfamilies.ca/living_wages_in_bc_and_canada
You would because the BC Fed of Labour is a grass roots NDP movement
So as it stands right now we’re 85 cents below Alberta. Their target for $15.00 isn’t until Oct. 2018.
It’s notable that this poverty reduction plan is just to increase the cost of labour to employer’s and make them bear the brunt. So if wages go up, and welfare recipients go down, we’ve successfully downloaded the social cost to the main driver of our economy.
And a $3.65 cent increase to the employee is about a $4.40 cost to an employer who must pay CPP, EI, holiday pay, WCB etc.
And this doesn’t affect just businesses that hire minimum wage workers. It affects businesses who are currently paying $15.00, whose employee’s will start expecting $18.00.
Businesses and non-profits will be faced with 3 choices. Reduce staff, increases prices, have less profit, or a combination of all 3.
Personally, I think we should give it a shot and see if we all still go to Timmies when the price of everything goes up. If we do, it worked, if we don’t, then likely 5 people will make $15.00 an hour, and 1 person will make nothing and go on welfare as the employer provides less services to keep their labour cost affordable.
You forgot to add the most famous 4th choice. Leave BC.
Close the door behind you.
Like the old saying in Saskatchewan? Last one out turn off the lights?
Complain all you want BH, however, In October of 2016, BC was in the middle of the pack of being provinces with minimum Wage.
Minimum wage across Canada as of October 1st, 2016
BC – 10.85
Saskatchewan – 10.72
Quebec – 10.75
NB – 10.65
NS – 10.75
NFL – 10.50
Projected Minimum wage increases for 2017
BC – 11.35
MB – 11.00
NB – 11.00
NL – 11.50
NS – 10.70
PEI – 11.00 Minimum wage adjusted annually relative to consumer priced index.
Sask – 10.72
Before you put BC on the chopping block for paying low minimum wages, take a good look at what the rest of Canada is doing!
Alberta: October 2017 $13.60 per hour; October 2018 $15.00 per hour
New Brunswick: April 2017 $11.00 per hour
Newfoundland and Labrador: October 2017 $11.00
Northwest Territories: $12.50 per hour
Nunavut: $13.00 per hour
Ontario: $11.40 per hour
Prince Edward Island: $11.00 per hour
Quebec: May 2017 $11.25 per hour
Yukon: $11.07 per hour
Only Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan would have had a lower minimum wage than BC, “if” the BC Liberals had NOT announced the increase today. With the rest of the provinces about to increase their minimum wages, BC was forced to raise ours as well. This means the other provinces in Canada are setting the pace when it comes to increases in minimum wage, and BC is constantly playing catch up!
Read into it anyway you want BH! Still in the middle of the pack, not the worst like you write it!
I think that we could all agree that paying a low minimum wage is nothing more than having workers subsidize business’s. There is two things that need to happen.
1.Business must pay a reasonable wage for hours worked, and make the rest of their profits from what they charge for their product.
2.Wages to some extent have to reflect the type of work being done, and the value it has to the business. In other words, just how much are you willing to pay an employee who as an example serves you hamburgers over the counter. If you pay $15.00 per hour that would cost you $30,000.00 per year before any benefits.
At the end of the day if the business cannot afford to pay a decent salary, and benefits, along will all the other costs associated with a business, then he/she should close the doors and go look for a job. It is not the responsibility of the employee to work for s..t wages, so that the employer can live high off the hog.
If we have a minimum wage of $12.00 per hour that should suffice. The minimum wage is the least an employer can pay. Nothing stops them from paying more if they chose to.
Palopu-have to agree. People who go to the fast food outlets, if an extra 25 cents was added to the burger they would still buy. Look at the line-ups at T.H. Some of these places should be ashamed of the wages they are paying. They pay so little because they are allowed.
Palopu, you state that “It is not the responsibility of the employee to work for s…t wages, so that the employer can live high off the hog”!
For your information there are lots and lots and LOTS of small business owners that are far from living high off the hog!
My parents were small business hours and they certainly didn’t live high off the hog! They always paid their staff more than minimum wage. And when they factored in the number of hours that they worked, they were making far less per hour than what they paid their employees and also far less than minimum wage!
Consider my comment as my polite way of telling you and others like you to take your opinions and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine!
Awwww, u mad, bro?
That’s the best you got? You’re a joke! No wonder we call you “Hahaha”!
Awww. Now I know u mad, bro. LOL
Walmart’s low-wage workers cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $6.2 billion in public assistance including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing, according to a report. “The study estimated the cost to Wisconsin’s taxpayers of Walmart’s low wages and benefits, which often force workers to rely on various public assistance programs,” reads the report. “It found that a single Walmart Supercenter cost taxpayers between $904,542 and $1.75 million per year, or between $3,015 and $5,815 on average for each of 300 workers.”
ht tps://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/04/15/report-walmart-workers-cost-taxpayers-6-2-billion-in-public-assistance/#1e38b94720b7
This is happening in Canada as well, when minimum wages are too low, and are insufficient for workers to live on, we end up paying for subsidized housing, and other services, the working poor require to get by. Large corporations are getting away with paying cheap labour, and actually encourages their workers to seek out government programs and services to augment their poverty wages. We subsidize the corporations! And yet still we have their champions on here blindly supporting big business, all the while they are so “stinking rich” they have amassed $700 BILLION Dollars in “dead money”, that they just sit on. Nearly a TRILLION Dollars in profits these Canadian Corporations are NOT re-investing, or even paying out to their shareholders, they are just sit on all that money! That is why it is called “dead money” it is just sitting there doing nothing!!!
www .pressprogress.ca/corporate_canada_is_sitting_on_680_billion_85_canadians_say_raise_corporate_taxes
BH have to agree.
BH, regarding your comment that Walmart’s low-wage workers cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $6.2 billion in public assistance, here’s a real good question for you…
Exactly how many BILLIONS in taxpayer subsidies (ie: public assistance) will those of us without pensions plans and generous benefit packages have to pay to prop up the looming and massive underfunded public sector pension liability in order to keep our public sector workers gorging at the trough?
It infuriates me that I and so many others are subsidizing public sector pension plans!
BH, you wouldn’t be one of those pigs suckling on the public sector teat now, would you?
You don’t have a pension plan, so nobody else should either. Boo hoo hoo. Typical Tightie Rightie jealousy. Guess you should have applied for a government job. What do you Cons like to say when it comes to down and outers. Choices, man. You made your bed. Live in it.
Hahaha, we would all love government jobs, however there are only so many cushy 7 3/4 hr work days, 20 sick days per year, cushy, banked sick days, 4 weeks vacation, lucrative pension jobs to go around.
More worthless generalization. Keep applying. I’m sure you’ll get in some day and can find out if it is as heavenly as you describe.
Anyway, it is you tightie righties that hate unionization, so it’s obvious you like working in jobs with out sick days, bank time, 4 week vacations and pensions. Like you Cons like to say….life has choices. Live with it.
Just because you are in working squalor doesn’t mean that every other worker should have to join you in the mud.
I am doing quite fine actually and I sure the hell don’t need some union hump negotiating my wages and working conditions as I am quite capable of doing that myself. I also don’t need sick days, when I am sick I stay at home with pay which is not very often, unlike my union counterparts who seem to get a mysterious back injury every Thursday on a long weekend.
Hahaha, I have no problem with someone having a pension plan! I do however have a problem with being forced to subsidize public sector Defined Benefit Pension Plans!
Public Sector pension plans should be funded by the public sector workers who will receive the pensions, not by the rest of us who are busy contributing to our own retirement plans, ie RRSP’s and TFSA’s.
And for your information, years and years ago, I had a government job, a job which I left after seeing how inefficient and lazy most of my coworkers were! I suspect that you would have fit in with that group quite well!
@Peter North
You can take paid days off when you are sick and then have the gall to complain about other workers having the same privilege. Wow, what class.
Yes, I’m absolutely sure you have never had the “flu” after a long weekend. /s
This is too funny! The BC Fed by their statement just turned a bunch of small business owners in to Liberal voters. Keep on Truck’in! LOL
I suspect that they always were Liberal voters. In any event the Liberals will need all the voters they can get this time around.
goof, whatever. Go with it popo.
Well, what a lively discussion.
First off, no employer owes anyone a job. Employers are not in the business of employment, they are in the business of profit. The only way that any employer will employ anyone is if that employment candidate can help that employer make a profit. If that is not the case,the employer will pay himself the wages and save the taxes and employer remittance of CPP, EI, and vacation pay.
The government does not owe anyone any employment. I believe that is known as socialism or communism. The government (the legislature) is in the business of regulation and regulation enforcement presumably mostly about public safety and security. They make the laws and legislation, and ensure there is another group to enforce the laws, we call that the justice system or the courts.
If employment is not to your liking, go ahead and start your own business. If you want to ensure your employability, dress like you intend to be employed, not like you are taking time out of your personal life. Get certified, or credentials in a job role that suits your personality, preferences and passion. There is only one fairly assured way past minimum wage, it is school. Get a trade, a profession, or a marketable skill.
There is a reason Home Depot, McDonald’s and other retailers have installed self serve kiosks. Machines are cheaper in the long run, are more reliable, and can do mundane, repetitive tasks more effectively for longer time without bio-breaks and never have Monday morning flu or any other illness.
The future of employment will either be higher skill sets or higher education or sticks and stones. Depending on if the world survives the transition from this petro-economy. What we are seeing is more contract based employment or entrepreneurial activities, or government services.
There is no profit if people don’t have money to buy the goods that businesses produce. There are only four ways for the goods being produced to be absorbed. People working and earning enough to buy what is made. Barring that, since business owners don’t want to provide employment, Governments have to provide enough resources so people can absorb all that excess production. Export so that workers in other countries absorb what domestic demand can’t. Of course, all the “smart” business owners in those countries are trying to export their excess production to us, in the hope that there are enough workers here to absorb their crap.
Lastly, cut back on production, lay off workers which reduces economic activity which leads to more production cuts and layoffs which leads to recession and finally to a depression.
And your chant of “get an education” is just old and worn out. The present generation has some of the highest rates of University completion. They have plenty of “credentials” and are still stuck working at Starbucks. A Bachelor’s degree has turned into a high school diploma. In a few years, a master’s degree will be the equivalent of a high school diploma, but I guess you think everyone can or wants to 10 years in post-secondary to get a Phd which, if enough people acquired it, would have little more value than a high school diploma.
Palopu,
You generally have some good posts until you comment on business.
It’s very obvious you have never owned a business or had the opportunity to be involved closely in one.
I would like to invite you to spend a day with me in my “small ” business to see how we operate and the challenges we face. (Including paying over a living wage)
We aren’t a TH or McD or Canfor or WF. But we are in the small business sector that employes the majority of people in BC and don’t want to be tarred with the same brush as big business.
Again, come walk a few steps in my shoes.
Palpou= goof.
Want bigger wages put some efforts into a better education, stay in school, a dogwood is useless on its own. Minimum education equals minimum wages……………..
You are right manofsteel, our premier has nothing more than a dogwood diploma, and look how useless she is! Yes, its time for a new premier and government in BC!
It’s amazing what kind of job you can get with a grade 12 education, and there is nothing minimum about Christy Clark’s wage either manofsteel.
If everyone was a brain surgeon who would make your bed in the next hotel you go to. Not saying we don’t need more brain surgeons on this site.
It is amazing what a high school diploma would get you in the past, a grade 10 education would have opened a lot of doors in the 60s too.
But unfortunately we are talking about the young graduating today, a diploma from their secondary school may not be enough. They may have to work towards a ticket by taking first year courses in colleges or universities instead of getting the first year experience on the job as was done in the past. Know of a few people who got into trades this way, first year of their journeyman from a CNC technical foundation program, they even offer this to high school kids as a fast track to their chosen occupation
This mantra is just old, tired and hollow.
So is the complaining…
I think you would be surprised by some of the jobs that pay, if not minimum wage, then just enough over it that those increase would trigger a raise for the employees. A lot of formal office jobs are remarkably low-paying. I refused to accept a position in a medical-type office last year because they offered 25 cents over minimum wage. This was not entry entry- level position.
One of the reasons we moved up north is because my partner, with tons of experience, education and a professional designation was working for $12/hour because that is what the local employers were paying for that position (Up here, the same position pays closer to $35/hr to start).
Augh. Spelling. I cannot type on a phone.
Thanks for your comment Throckster, some of us believe this is happening more and more. Under this BC Liberal government, its a race to the bottom!
Who pays Christy’s wages…………Those who work and generate taxes not those who get money free or just sit on a computer who continually puts websites on this site …. Education opens up more doors and more opportunities in life to many…..
BH…….One of your favorite sources, the internet, Christy has more that a grade 12, a major in political science at a university.
Hmmmmmmmmm
Clark may have attended Universities to major in political science and religious studies, but she didn’t graduate from any post-secondary institution.
anniemartin is correct, the only thing Christy Clark can hang on her office wall that shows a “completed” level of education is her high school diploma.
Annie Martin or BH or hahaha you are the same person just a different personality. Christy Clark and her perceived lack of education sure gets you all riled up! This just shows how completely inept all those arts degrees the NDP candidates bring out to be slaughtered every election.
I didn’t know graduation from a post secondary institution was a prerequisite. Oops, your jealousy is showing, all I got for this diploma at SFU was a barista job and she gets to be Premier?
Free market means I can choose where I spend my money and where I earn it. If I don’t like the prices that a supplier has, I can choose not to give them my business. If enough people feel the same way, due to economics (and not legislation) they will be force to lower their prices, provide better products, or allow their business to suffer. The exact same goes for wages! If someone isn’t willing to pay me what I want, I won’t work there. I’ll go work somewhere else. If an employer can’t find anyone who will work for what they’re willing to pay, they won’t find anyone. Why does this have to be legislated?
If you want the government to regulate wages, then why not have them regulate prices? It’s the same thing! Maybe the government should be telling a mom-and-pop bakery how much they can charge for a loaf of bread, or a plumber how much he can charge to service a water heater. At the end of the day, it is the same thing.
For those who think a $15 minimum wage will solve all the ills of society, they’re in for a rude awakening. Companies are going to continue to find ways to replace labour with automation (you’re seeing it everywhere). If they can’t they’ll offer a higher wage alright, and expect more for it. Two employees for $15/hr each? No thanks, I’ll hire 1 for $20/hr and they’ll work twice as hard. Go ahead and voice your wishful thinking about this but that’s the reality whether you choose to accept it or not.
Everyone can continue to go through life believing that others owe them something.. good employment, a high wage, etc. but they’ll be in for a lifetime of disappointment.
Very true. I wonder where BH does his shopping? Probably Walmart.
The way the system works is they like to keep you poor so that they will have more control over you. Most people would work for much less if you have very little food on the table. If government is not going to raise the min wage then the only other thing to do is to join a union and have a living wage negotiated.
Right. You actually still believe we have “free markets” in this country? How is that “free market” working out for you when you want to change cell phone and/or your internet provider?
Don’t blame others because you signed a contract
The problem with SOCIALISM is that you eventually run out of other people’s money…………. Margaret Thatcher UK
The only problem with Capitalism is the Capitalists……Herbert Hoover.
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all…..John Maynard Keynes
Advocates of Capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of Liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in tyranny over the unfortunate…..Bertrand Russell
Or better oneself through more education….an investment in oneself
Why do people deserve poverty even working full-time? There is nothing wrong with them that they need to “better themselves”.
Time for employers to pay a living wage so that taxpayers don’t have to subsidize these businesses through social services nor should the community have to step up to make sure food banks have enough to feed them.
Poverty costs us a lot more than a few extra cents on a product to make sure that people have a living wage.
How many people working full time have to use the food banks or social services?
Paul Taylor of the Gordon Neighbourhood House community service organization says; “There are a number of people accessing food banks that are working full time,” he said. “It’s pretty absurd that people earning a wage in a city aren’t earning enough to live in that city.”
ht tp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cbc-food-bank-1.3850697
These people are called the working poor, time to face reality slinky!
I heard teachers had to use the food banks according to news reports, must be the workers he was talking about. Maybe we have to raise teachers salaries
slinky, you asked the serious question; “How many people working full time have to use the food banks or social services?”
I answered your question, with a link to supporting evidence that there a many people who are working full-time poverty wage jobs that use the food banks.
And you respond with that? Like the political party you support, you are so minor league!
Yes you reply with an anecdotal reply from an employee, I thought you dug up evidence. There was an article during the last BCTF strike that had teachers going to their local food banks. Maybe that was what he was referring to you think?
Not good at this cut and paste thing, but here we go.
Christy Clark: B.C. Premier has made a big bet on LNG
Brent Jang
VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, May 15, 2015 4:10PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015 5:12PM EST
Education: Graduated in 1983 from Burnaby South Secondary School. Took courses at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, the Sorbonne in Paris and Scotland’s University of Edinburgh, but did not graduate. Her interests included political science and religious studies.
This is why I appropriately call her High School Christy.
Jealousy will get you nowhere BH
BH and she is Premier, what are you?
Whats the matter BH! your grade 12 education didn’t get you that far! No ambition or drive! Too bad you have to attack others that actually have done something and you can’t compete so you have to resort to throwing trash! Good on you!!
Obviously did that wrong. It was a response to manofsteel about Christy’s education.
My bad.
No, we got it… good comment, most of us already knew the only education level Christy Clark completed was high school, but it’s good to quote a reputable source like the Globe and Mail as validation of the facts.
I do this all the time, much to the annoyance of some of the BC Lib-Con supporters on here. State the facts and truths, and back it up with credible sources. Gets them really frustrated.
BH you and me carried on a lively debate the other night about jobs and the need for education. It was your position that there should be no need for extra training and courses to achieve a job. With this thinking of yours why does Christy Clark need a university degree? Just another BH contradiction.
And by Ryder’s logic, with only a high school education (and no OFA Level 3 or Grading Ticket) Christy Clark would not even get an interview as a sawmill labourer…. yet she qualifies to be Premier of our Province???
Now that’s Lib-Con logic for you!
She is applying to work at a sawmill?
My point is she can’t apply at a sawmill for a labourer position, because she lacks the qualifications, but by Lib-Con logic; she qualifies to be our Premier, it’s an upside down world!!!
I don’t think she qualifies to work in the oil patch either, they require certain tickets she doesn’t have. She could qualilfy if she attained the tickets needed would she not? Or is there some sort of barrier to her employment? You are discriminating against her because she is the premier of the province aren’t you?
Irene Lanzinger has spent the vast majority of her working career suckling at the teet of the public purse! And now, as President of the BCFED, she is suddenly of the opinion that she has any clue as to how economics and small business or business of any size for that matter function!
This woman, when head of the BCTF, stated that our teachers deserve a raise and if taxes have to go up in order to pay for it, then so be it!
I’d like to say that this woman and others like her including the BCFED’s previous twit, Jim Sinclair are as dumb as a stick, but that would be an insult to the stick!
The BCFED facebook page has multiple posts from their organization to vote NDP so you know where they put their political hat
BH is a true Socialist, wants absolutely everything free.
Live off the system and few work to pay taxes the system will collapse.
Why work ? Those who have money will go elsewhere.
You guys are all right on BM, I mean BH, he does like throwing trash. I had a go around with him on one of the last posts and I found he that he can dish it but he can’t take it. Seems to be on a kick of a ‘living wage’, for everybody that is? Even the ones that don’t work even if they can. Too bad! The last post from manofsteel hit it bam on!
Interesting how a discussion about a minimum wage hike turns into a discussion about me. Flattered that you all are thinking and obsessing about me so much, but we really should be getting back to discussing the topic of the news article.
When we live in a province that has the highest child poverty rate in the country, shouldn’t we be thinking about all those hungry kids? Offering a “living wage” would go a long ways to alleviating child poverty, however raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would be acceptable as well.
Which of your multiple personalities thinks that we are flattering you Peeps?
Is it People#1?
Perhaps JGalt??
Sophic Sage???
BeingHuman 1, 2 or 3????
Good god, man (or rather “men” in order to include all of your personalities), get over yourself!
Peeps, you’re such a joke!
P.S. – Seattle’s $15.00 per hour minimum wage won’t be fully implemented until 2021! I already told you, or one of you that several weeks ago. You would think that your multiple personalities would at least talk to each other. The fact that they don’t might be considered as a multiple personality disorder!
Funny how both you and Irene Lanzinger are spouting off about Seattle’s $15.00 minimum wage, even though it hasn’t been fully implemented! Who’s dumber, you, Irene, or both (all) of you?
HG states; “Seattle’s $15.00 per hour minimum wage won’t be fully implemented until 2021!” Sorry but you are wrong about the $15 minimum wage implementation in Seattle, it was implemented last year, and here is an article that show that raise in the minimum wage in Seattle had negligible affects on the prices of goods and services in that city.
The headline for the following article is; “Effect on prices minimal one year after Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law implementation”
ht tps://phys.org/news/2016-04-effect-prices-minimal-year-seattle.html
You really should do your research before you post statements that are not factual, but not to worry, I am here to help you sort fact from fiction.
BH, Seattle’s $15.00 minimum wage won’t be, as I early stated and have repeatedly stated, won’t be fully implemented until 2021!
From June 03, 2014:
“The increase to $15 in Seattle will take place over several years based on a scale that considers the size of and benefits offered by an employer. It will apply first to many large businesses in 2017 and then to all businesses by 2021.
The first increase, on April 1, 2015, brings the minimum wage to $10 for some businesses and $11 for others.”
ht tp://money.cnn.com/2014/06/02/news/economy/seattle-minimum-wage/index.html
BH, from Seattle’s very own Office of Labor Standards:
Office of Labor Standards invites public comments until February 28, 2017om
Seattle’s Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect on April 1, 2015
The Minimum Wage Ordinance sets wages for the City of Seattle and will gradually increase to $15.00/hour.
Minimum Wage
For Small Employers (500 or fewer employees)
Does employer pay $2.00/hour towards medical benefits and/or does employee earn $2.00/hour in tips?
No #13.00/hour Yes $11.00
ht tp://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage
BH, I’ve posted this information several times and each time to choose to ignore the facts? Just how dense are you? It seems you wouldn’t know facts from fiction if facts jumped up and punched you in the nose!
Are “facts and fictions” your new buzzwords? What happened to “Facts and Truths”?
Anyone in Seattle who works for McDonald’s, Target or another large company or chain with more than 500 employees nationally, and does not receive healthcare benefits from their employer, is already getting paid $15 per hour.
Every single word in my above comment is a stated fact and truth. If Seattle and many other cities in the US can raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour so can BC!!!
I think parents getting $15 per hour minimum wage would be good thing for all those kids living in poverty in our province.
And the results? All studies in 2016 showed that employees ranged from earning 5 dollar more per week to 5 dollars less. Why not as huge impact in their wages? The reason has been found that their hours have been cut back – to the same point that they make the same amount as they did previously at a lower rate on their paycheck. New hires have been affected as predicted by most analysts. This is the desired effect? they had the same data when wages went up in the past – just leaves them in the same state as before on average. Employment in Seattle is booming on the whole – but not for those earning 15 or less, their employment is actually going down slightly. Why is that?
And BeingHuman, besides all of the information that I have posted for you time and time again, information that clearly shows that Seattle’s $15.00 minimum wage rate has yet to be fully implemented, I have also provided time and time again information that clearly shows that all is not well with the current and anticipated future increases required to fully and finally implement the full $15.00 minimum wage!
But conversing with you is, as my dear Mother would say, like talking to a brick wall! Gosh, Mom was so smart!
She would also say that talking with someone like you is futile because of the phrase “in one ear and out the other”!
Conversing with you Peeps, is like hitting one’s head against that brick wall! The only good thing about it is the feeling that you get when you stop!
And on that note, tomorrow is a busy day, so I’m outta here and off for a good night’s sleep. You on the other hand, will probably spend the rest of the night and half of the morning desperately googling away before your Mother calls you down for breakfast!
Oops, almost forgot, did you see Rich Coleman, Minister Responsible for Housing tear a strip of off pathetic Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robinson on tonight’s Global News broadcast?
Robinson was whining, as usual, about the Province not providing enough funding for housing and Coleman ripped him a new butthole! It was epic!
Bulk of the minimum wage earners in Seattle have already had their minimum wage increased to $15 per hour, the rest who work for smaller outfits will follow.
Nice that we have an alternative to a BC Liberal government who does not care about our province having the highest child poverty rate in the country, if they did care, they would have done something about it by now.
An NDP government promises to raise BC’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, at least some cares about our working poor in our province!
ht tp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-ndp-pledges-to-raise-minimum-wage-to-15-if-elected/article30637534/
Someone cares, just not the person you think
Do a little research you so emphatically say you do, What are the outcomes? How did the 15 dollar minimum affect wages? Maybe read some Forbes articles or someone other than a weekly columnist on the subject. There have been huge increases in employment in Seattle recently – just not for those earning minimum wage? How can this be? Wasn’t this the magic bullet? How can there be less employment for those earning minimum than in the past? How can someone who just got a 2 dollar an hour raise only take home 5 dollars more a week – or some actually taking home less?
15 an hour doesn’t kill the economy, just marginalizes more people is all
I think calling “up” for breakfast would be more appropriate.
NDP can promise all they want. They will be flushed down the toilet with all their socialist ideas.
BC Liberals managed to double our province’s debt in just 16 years. That’s right, what took 130 years to accumulate $33.6 billion dollars in debt, this BC Liberal government managed to double to $66.4 billion in just 16 short years.
ht tp://www.debtclock.ca/provincial-debtclocks/british-columbia/british-columbia-s-debt/
Vote these BC Liberals back in and watch them bankrupt our province!!!
NDP doubled our debt in 10 short years
You are talking about a little league amount of smaller debt, when you want to put our province unto debt, the BC Liberals go “BIG LEAGUE”!!!
double is double, triple is triple. In the 90s it was just as much big league as it is now
Would it not be better to find ways to better prepare our young people for the work force? With that I mean, governments should work (more) with industry to provide means for graduates to go into the trades and special skills that would garner better wages. One should never expect to make a living on minimum wage; that should be left to young people looking to make a few dollars while attending school. Our young people should be encouraged to better themselves and not be content trying to make it on minimum wage. For single mothers struggling to make ends meet, we should have programs for them to upgrade themselves so that they can make a better living. For people who just want to party and be lazy; well it is what it is and they will struggle until they wake up and smell the coffee. We need to stop enabling people to make the wrong choices and mentor them to make the correct ones, inspire them to reach for stars and not be content with just being a day tripper.
As long as ALL ‘costs’ are included and have to be recovered from ‘prices’, while in today’s modern world only a PART, and an ever declining part of those total ‘costs’, (even if wages are raised), are Labor ‘costs’, (which are the main source of CURRENT incomes), those ‘costs’ can NEVER fully be liquidated in their totality through ‘prices’. A PART of something won’t ever liquidate the WHOLE of it. The simple FACT that the largest segment of overall debt nowadays is so-called ‘consumer credit’ bears witness to this. All an increase in the present minimum wage, or any wage, for that matter, will do, is enable more people to become more indebted, and reduce the likelihood they’ll ever be able to repay.
All this talk above about everyone getting ‘more qualified’ as the ticket to economic success may well apply in various individual instances. But it will NEVER apply totally. We are, and have been for a very long time, working our way out of work. In 1900 it took 50% of the whole available workforce to be down on the farm just to grow enough grub to feed themselves and the other 50% employed elsewhere. Today that’s down to less than 3%, and still falling. And we grow more grub for more people than ever before in human history! Even in countries where famine was a regular recurrence. Some of them are now food exporters!
Wake up, people. There’s nothing wrong in getting a good education, and being qualified in a variety of skills. But to say that’s the universal guarantee of good employment for EVERYONE? You’re dreaming in technicolour.
You’ve got to realise wages are only a PART of ALL the costs that go into modern prices. And a PART will NEVER fully liquidate the WHOLE. No matter how high you make wages. There has to be a separate way from employment to augment consumer incomes. Or we will continue to have a rising poverty in the midst of a growing plenty.
Cheetos you are absolutely correct, education and good life choices.
BH types will bankrupt the country…… and his continual websites, give me a break, does he work ?
Okay here is a great explanation of how minimum wage works, a US example but applies here.
“The real minimum wage, of course, is zero. If we set the minimum wage at $15 per hour as Tom Perez and the Democrats argue, everyone who is not worth $15 per hour in the marketplace will be out of a job … and as a result they will make the real minimum wage, $0.00 per hour.
The minimum wage law does not create any wealth. Instead, all the minimum wage law does is redistribute the amount of money spent on wages. It removes money from less skilled lower-paid workers and puts the money toward more skilled higher-paid workers … while increasing the pressure for automation at the bottom end.
So here’s the Perez plan, the Democratic Party’s plan. Take money away from the lowest-paid worker, give that money to the higher-paid workers, push automation (think hamburger-making machines), and pretend that the redistribution of wealth is a net gain for the economy …”
ht tps://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/ending-poverty-in-america/
They found this all out in the 70s and 80s, why are they trying to reinvent the wheel?
As they have found out so far in Seattle/Seatac/Tacoma they are booming. Except when you look at those now earning the minimum, their take home pay is an average 5.00 higher than before the increase but it has been such a huge success hasn’t it? Employment levels for those earning minimum wage has one down a few percentage points and those working are doing so at reduced hours. MickeyDees has now implemented the be your own cashier to eliminate a few positions, this is where we are headed? When dealing with skinny margins the only costs you can cut is employees unfortunately for them. Like self checkouts? Be a lot more of them on the horizon
Now here is a write up about slaves sorry, illegals in the states, also applies here. Ever notice the berry pickers around Abby for just one example, really notice them.
“I keep hearing that the reason that we need workers from Mexico and Central America to pick our crops is because working in the fields is “work that Americans won’t do”. I say that that sentence is chopped off in midstream.”
ht tps://rosebyanyothernameblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/work-americans-wont-do/
Here is another example, Wendy’s self serve kiosks.
n yet another awkwardly rational response to government intervention in deciding what’s “fair”, the blowback from minimum wage demanding fast food workers has struck again. Wendy’s plans to install self-ordering kiosks in 1,000 of its stores – 16% of its locations nationwide.
ht tp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-27/minimum-wage-massacre-wendys-unleashes-1000-robots-counter-higher-labor-costs
I know I have to look at a person’s ability to return my investment and I hate that. I get paid a set rate for a job and those I hire have to make the job profitable or I have to let them go, I can’t keep them working at a rate of pay that suits their rate of labour. Put another way, I just got a contract I can do myself in 5 hours, I hire a helper to assist and we do the job in 4 hours – happens a lot and I don’t mind paying the person for doing the job and making less for myself. The unintended consequence is I don’t hire them on the next job or as a last resort. When I do find someone who works well the other unintended consequence is they get self confidence and in periods we have no contracts they find other work, and more power to them they deserve a steady paycheck. Yeah yeah, I know what you are going to say but let me further this by just adding most of these people I hire are on social assistance or disability. Working 5 or 6 hours on a job is usually not a problem for them, although I have had a few answers of them being busy which kind of surprised me but everyone has a life. Being on disability or welfare doesn’t mean you can’t work
Sorry, it cut off my last sentence. Doesn’t mean you can’t work, just maybe not for 15 an hour … or 20
When you read comment after comment on two people agreeing with each other, you know they are trying to tie up the discussion thread. For those of you who skimmed over their comment, I offer you some substantial evidence about the benefits of increasing the minimum wage… here is New Zealand’s experience.
The minimum wage is to rise by 50 cents to $15.25 an hour from 1 April 2016, affecting more than 150,000 workers. But the Government says the rise will not lead to the loss of any jobs, though an increase of a further 25c to $15.50 would have cost 2000 jobs.
“An increase to $15.25 per hour will directly benefit approximately 152,700 workers and will increase wages throughout the economy by $75 million per year.
“With annual inflation currently at 0.1 per cent, an increase to the minimum wage by 3.4 per cent gives our lowest paid workers more money in their pocket, without imposing undue pressure on businesses or hindering job growth,” he said.
ht tp://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/77372950/minimum-wage-to-rise-50c-to-1525-from-april-1
Yes folks, New Zealand’s minimum wage will be “more” than $15 per hour!
You mean Anniemartin and BH or oldman1?
Your comments are approaching a childish level slinky, how can anyone take you seriously anymore?
Isn’t that what you said in your post?
High cost of living in New Zealand makes their minimum wage a mute point.
How’s your mine coming along?
“A Big Mac in New Zealand currently cost an average $5.20, which amounted to US$4.32 based on an exchange rate of $1 to US83.9c. That showed the kiwi was undervalued by 1 per cent, The Economist said.”
High cost of living my a$$, can’t provide evidence to support your lies, then take a hike smutt! I am looking for some “serious” debate, not amateur hour.
Oh the “Big Mac” index – hey BH what is the cost of a litre of gas in NZ? You do know they use the “Big Mac” index to figure out if currencies are over or under valued? The price of a burger in Egypt is way cheaper, wonder what their minimum wage is?
Yes folks New Zealand where tax rates hit 30 percent at 48,000.00, a place where every penny you make is taxed is a perfect fit an example. Deduct the minimum 10.5 percent they have to pay on every dollar earned from your 15 dollars for a start at a comparison.
Oh BH – and add on GST of 15 percent on pretty much everything. They need 15 bucks just to live in a hostel
Raising minimum wage is only part of the answer to reducing child poverty in BC, to reduce it in any meaningful way there needs to be a “plan” in place to reduced that unacceptably high child poverty rate, and that plan would be a Poverty Reduction Plan. BC is the only province in Canada without one!!!
Time to vote in a government that cares about our children, BC is the worst place to live in Canada for our children!!!
It isn’t any part of it, learn from those that are doing it. As you say Seattle has increased their minimum wage. They are just south of us and directly south of Vancouver where a 15 dollar minimum would affect the most. Right now findings of even Forbes magazine has found that employment has gone down a percent or two as they had forecast, and hours have gone down for existing employees, thus their actual earnings were between 5 and -5 dollars per week different than previous to the 15 dollar a day minimum. There has been an increase in higher paying jobs but nothing for those on minimum wage. You have to ask why? It is mostly because these businesses have employee pay as their highest cost, those costs go up and you find ways to lower them again. Lowering hours of work finding efficiencies in process or automating such as you see at McDonalds even in PG. these all lower costs of labour, but unfortunately they lower what those employees take home as well.
They already found this out in the 70s when minimum wage took a big jump, it isn’t anything new
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