City to Take a Closer Look at call to Support Boost in Minimum Wage

Monday, September 20, 2010 08:25 PM

Prince George, B.C.- The City of Prince George will look for more information before reaffirming it’s decision three years ago to send a letter to the provincial government, in support of increasing the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour.

“B.C. has the lowest minimum wage in the country and the highest child poverty rate” says Councilor Deborah Munoz. She points out that in Prince George, the average for people on income assistance is twice the provincial average “Some families are struggling just to provide two necessities of life, food and shelter. Raising it to $10 an hour is needed as part of the overall poverty reduction plan.”

The request came direct to the office of the Mayor from the P.G. and District Labour Council. Councilor Brian Skakun says he supports the City standing behind it, “It will show that this City supports a fair and livable wage.”

Councilor Cameron Stolz wanted some background information before approving a letter of support. Councillor Sherri Green says she wants to know why the amount is $10 dollars, but needs some more information. “At $8.00 an hour, British Columbia has the lowest minimum wage in the country, and while no one likes to be at the bottom of the list, what is this going to mean if we make this type of increase at this time?” She says while a lot of small businesses have been able to weather the economic storm, she believes it will harm the small business community. “Experience has shown large jumps in the minimum wage tend to hurt the very people it is designed to help.” She says as the minimum wage is increased, employers feel they must also increase the wages of other employees. She says she cannot support arbitrarily supporting a 25% increase at this point.

Garth Frizzell says while he has never paid his staff minimum wage, he can sympathize with the small businesses who do. He says it would be easy to reaffirm the support because it won’t cost the city any more but it may be detrimental to small business. He says if the City approves this support, will it enforce its own minimum wage for its own staff?

He has moved that the item be referred to Policy Advisory committee before the City makes a commitment. The Mayor doesn’t agree with that, but suggests the letter of support be changed to remove a specific amount, and suggest simply that there needs to be an “increase” in the minimum wage.

The item was deferred to the Policy Advisory Committee with Councillors Green, Stolz, Bassermann and Frizzell voting in favour, Councillors Munoz, Skakun and the Mayor voting against. Councillor Dave Wilbur was absent.

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Posted on Monday, September 20, 2010 08:25 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: He spoke on September 20 2010 8:48 PM

Is this really a concern of city council. Isn't this the concern of the province.

Posted by: He spoke on September 20 2010 8:49 PM

Maybe they should have a maximum cap on city employees.

Posted by: RUEZ on September 20 2010 9:19 PM

Gordon Campbell is the worst thing to ever happen to BC.

Posted by: Resident on September 20 2010 9:40 PM

Great to see certain councillors more worried about small business than kids that go to bed hungry. Typical PG council stand, study it. Ok for Campbell to take the coin out of people's pockets with the blessing of taxpayer supported IPG but heaven forbid helping those that really need it.

Posted by: dnakamura on September 20 2010 10:09 PM

I am grateful to Councillors Munoz and Skakun and Mayor Rogers for identifying this as a priority. This is not merely an issue for the province or the feds to address, municipalities have a role in forwarding this information and concerns to other levels of government.
I started in the work force part-time as a teenager 31 years ago when the minimum wage was $3.65 an hour. At that time my family bought a really nice brand new house in Coquitlam for $75,000. You could buy a plain burger, fries and pop at McDonalds for a dollar. Cigarettes were 75 cents a pack. A great pair of designer jeans cost $30. These are some of the prices I remember from 1979.
31 years later, the prices of these items I previously mentioned have skyrocketed yet the minimum wage has gone up only $4.35?!
There is something gravely wrong with this picture. Why does B.C. still have the lowest minimum wage in Canada and the highest child povery rate?

Posted by: vocer on September 20 2010 10:29 PM

Easy for those who don't live on minimum wage to make comments like that. How about Ms. Green live on min wage for a year and see how she feels about it then.

Posted by: dow7500 on September 20 2010 10:31 PM

This is NOT city business. Period. What next, a proclamtion to stop whaling?

Posted by: Banner on September 21 2010 1:44 AM

Council needs more information before reaffirming a decision made 3 YEARS ago? I think that that indicates how important the working poor are to our Council.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 3:51 AM

"The City of Prince George will look for more information before reaffirming it’s decision three years ago to send a letter to the provincial government, in support of increasing the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour."

BANG ON Banner!!!!!

THAT is the story here.

1. Why was the original letter not sent on after Council made a decision?

2. Why is a Council with new members undoing something that was already done?

3. If they are now considering sending it, why are they not looking at increasing the $10 by the increase in the cost of living at the least.

Unless someone can come up with a good explanation, it shows total disregard of administration to their Council.

How many other such cases are lurking at the Hall?

This sounds like the misplaced speeding ticket case that caused a judge to stay a speeding charge.

Posted by: bustedbetty on September 21 2010 8:23 AM

As was clearly stated, an increase in the minimum wage isn't going to do much good to those who are living on the poverty line. The benefit to them should be in tax exemptions. It was nice to see that there are councillors who UNDERSTAND the process and don't just throw numbers out their so they look good. And Resident, I think you missed the whole point of why the councillors want to review something that has sat in council since 2007. If the job is worth doing it's worth doing right AND why wasn't it sent out three years ago if it was so urgent? I'm glad we have councillors with backbones and who aren't afraid of being unpopular at times.

Posted by: IAM on September 21 2010 8:32 AM

Two items here:
1. pesos for minimum wage
2. blood brain barrier with previous council decisions.

The question placed by Gus is pertinent:
"How many other such cases are lurking at the Hall?"

For the working poor in Prince George, this is not just a question of bureaucratic incompetence. A three year delay in pay equity can cause significant harm.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 8:33 AM

I how many of those who buy "fair trade coffee" will not support a minimum waqe increase in their own province?

Posted by: Loki on September 21 2010 9:12 AM

The Emma Maersk, part of a Danish shipping line.

What a ship....no wonder 'Made in China ' is displacing North American made goods big time. This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days!! This is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be completed in 2012.

These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods and stuff from China . They hold an incredible 15,000 cartons and have a 207 foot deck beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000)
With it's 207' beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals ..

It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots. The goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run. 91% of Walmart products are made in China.

So this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods.
The ship was built in five sections. The sections floated together and then welded.

The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.

Additional info:
Country of origin - Denmark
Length - 1,302 ft
Width - 207 ft
Net cargo - 123,200 tons
Engine - 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
Cruise Speed - 31 knots
Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)
Crew - 13 people !
First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006
Construction cost - US $145,000,000+
Silicone painting applied to the ship bottom reduces water resistance and saves 317,000 gallons of diesel per year.

Editorial Comment!

A recent documentary in late March, 2010 on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China ,EMPTY. Yep, that's right.

We send nothing back on these ships. What does that tell you about the current financial state of this country? Just keep buying those imported goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money.
Then you may wonder what the cause of unemployment (maybe even your job) in the U.S. and Canada might be????

'Nuff said ??

Does that answer your question dnakamura?

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 10:09 AM

So Loki ...... you said that post answers dnakamura's question which is:

"Why does B.C. still have the lowest minimum wage in Canada and the highest child povery rate?"

I am not too sure how you feel that answers her question.

Do you think that the answer to competing with low wages in China is by:

1. keeping our wages low?
2. not buying from WalMart?
3. filling the containers going back?

If you answer yes to ANY one of those, you do not understand the dynamics of global trade and the impact it has on changing all economies, both the "western" industrial economies as well as the emerging industrial economies.

Compared to the original industrial revolution, this economic change we are going through is much quicker and reaches a much larger population base. Everyone needs to re-assess their situation and adjust accordingly.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 10:27 AM

The Emma Mirsk is one of 8 such ships. It was launched 4 years ago, so no news there.

Loki .. you wrote:

"Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)"

That would be 300,000 cubic feet

That is about the volume of the TD building on 4th and Victoria.

Actually a TEU = "twenty foot equivalent unit"

It refers to a container that is 20 x 8 x 8.5 feet with a volume of 1,360 cubic feet.

15,000 TEU is a volume of 20.4 million cubic feet.

Imagine the HSBC building on the corner of Victoria and 3rd. It is 10 storeys high.
Imagine it 15 times as tall with 150 storeys and you get an idea of the volume of the containers on such a ship.

The picture in your mind would be even better if you could imagine the building lying on its side.

Scale, scale, scale .... it is all about scale.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 10:39 AM

I'll put one more "picture" in your mind that relates to WalMart.

Our store is about 570 x 320 x 20 feet. Guessing at the height. The rest is an approximation from an aerial.

That is 3.6million cubic feet.

So you would need about 6 stores if you were to pack the stores solid with the "stuff" in the containers on the assumption that the containers are packed as tightly as they can be - no aisles, no other space, packed to the rafters, so to speak.

Put that into a store with aisles and a mixture of storage systems from clothes on a rack to home appliances packed on shelves up to 10 feet high and you would actually be 100% stocking well over 20 stores with one shipment.

Posted by: onemansthoughts on September 21 2010 10:40 AM

Wow, the city council people must have swelled heads. To think they could change the minimum wage, when its a provincial descision. What a joke.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 11:03 AM

BTW, the country where the ship was built and sails out of is Denmark.

Denmark is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. It has little, if any, child poverty, homelessness, etc. It is a cradle to grave socialist country. It has high taxes to support that lifestyle and safety net.

It actually has no statutory minimum wage law.

The key to reducing poverty is a bit more difficult than enacting minimum wage laws. The key is to understand the capacity a country actually has to generate wealth other than on the backs of people whether it is in China, Sri Lanka or Canada.

The additional key required is the understanding that poverty is structural and community based. Once it is understood, compassion is required to ensure that the wealth created BY THE COMMUNITY (without the community no business in the world would survive) is shared with those with less capacity than others to contribute on the same basis.

North America has yet to come to the full realization of that fact.

Posted by: gus on September 21 2010 11:07 AM

"Wow, the city council people must have swelled heads. To think they could change the minimum wage, when its a provincial descision. What a joke."

Sort of something like the people having swelled heads when they think they can change legislation the people they put in power to create legislation have created?

All they are doing is expressing their opinions. Is that not what democracy is all about? As a City they have a say. As a City they can put in their two cents, the same as any individual and any other organization.

Hey, you too could write a letter, onemansthoughts. Why would I or anyone else say that you had a swelled head if you did?

Posted by: Harbinger on September 21 2010 5:24 PM

Instead of sending those empty containers back to china couldn't we here in PG panhandle the folks and get ourselves some of those containers and give them to the homeless? Refit doors and windows and ya got yourself a functional nest. Not much room fer entertaining, but I doubt homeless people entertain. Rezoning time, Danno. With a little pre-fab steel shed to boot for those well to do homeless with two shopping carts.