Danny Cavanagh: Employers can keep whining about the CRB all they want. Workers deserve to be looked after by taxpayers just as employers received wage subsidies, rent programs, interest-free loans and the many other programs they received courtesy of us taxpayers.
The NS Federation of Labour on PC leader Tim Houston’s ‘Better Paycheck Guarantee’: This plan is all about tax breaks and no mention of how to make up lost revenue and that its also an admission that higher paycheques bring on more spending but is silent on a higher minimum wage.
Judy Haiven takes a close look at Nova Scotia’s minimum wage, not only the 40 cents increase, but also who qualifies, how the minimum wage is set, where Nova Scotia fits in the grand scheme of things, and who all are affected.
Olivia Katz on the challenges she and other poor people faced long before we even heard of Covid. “These are not recent discoveries, Stephen McNeil knows all of this, he just doesn’t care. These outcomes are a matter of policy, his policy.”
Press release: Last year, Justin Trudeau promised “a federal minimum wage of at least $15 per hour, starting in 2020 and rising with inflation, with provisions to ensure that where provincial or territorial minimum wages are higher, that wage will prevail.” The year-end is quickly approaching, and yet there has been no movement to honour this commitment.
The Canada Student Service Grant pays students less than minimum wage and strips them of basic employment protections. Doing this may well be illegal, writes Lisa Cameron, and it’most certainly sends the wrong message about student labour.
Imagine waking up for work realizing that what you do today is worth less than yesterday. Stephen Wentzell reports on a rally the Quinpool Road Superstore in support of Loblaw and Sobeys grocery store workers across the country who have seen their wages clawed back 15% despite remaining on the front lines of a pandemic.
Danny Cavanagh: Our message to low wage employers is workers are understandably reluctant to accept the health risks of serving customers and possibly bringing COVID-19 home to their family. The safety for them and their family far outweighs working at a low wage job for a few hours a week on erratic scheduling, for minimum wage or a few pennies more.
Some lucky people get to work from home while low paid workers are expected to risk their and everybody’s health, until they’re laid off and face hunger and homelessness. Judy Haiven has some suggestions on what to do about it.
Lisa Cameron tackles the recent $1 minimum wage increase. It’s a step in the right direction, and credit is due, in large part, to the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign. But it is not nearly enough.