KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – A hastily organized rally in support of the Fight for $15 and Fairness! drew some twenty supporters, many with union flags, to the Tim Hortons on Spring Garden Road this afternoon.
Earlier we grumbled a bit on these pages about the lack of action on the Fight for $15 front in Nova Scotia, where 130,000 workers struggle to make ends meet on less than $15 an hour.
It seems it’s either feast or famine. Another rally, this one organized by the Halifax-Dartmouth and District Labour Council, is scheduled for noon this Friday, at the plaza in front of the Central Library, also on Spring Garden Road.
Ontario’s commitment to raise the minimum wage to $15 by January 2019, together with unpopular attempts by bosses there to reduce workers’ benefits and even claim their tips, have galvanized the current efforts in Nova Scotia.
As we have noted before, there is no doubt that the Ontario victory is the result of the hard work of countless activists, who put their differences aside and made sure that workers’ voices remained front and centre. Let’s hope Nova Scotia can emulate Ontario’s success!
Click here for the excellent leaflet handed out during today’s rally. Contact organizers of today’s rally at workwonks@gmail.com.
See also Know your labour rights, our series on labour standards in Nova Scotia, written by Judy Haiven
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