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Tim Hortons protests planned across Ontario over employees’ benefit cuts

Click to play video: 'Protests hit Tim Hortons locations across Toronto'
Protests hit Tim Hortons locations across Toronto
WATCH ABOVE: A rolling labour protest hit a number of Toronto Tim Hortons locations Tuesday to protest some franchisees cutting back on paid breaks following the $14 minimum wage bump on Jan. 1. Tom Hayes reports – Jan 10, 2018

Several protests are planned Wednesday outside Tim Hortons restaurants in southern Ontario.

The move comes after franchise owners in Cobourg and Kingston told their workers they’re eliminating paid breaks and some benefits in response to the province’s minimum wage hike.

READ MORE: Tim Hortons blames ‘reckless’ franchise owners for benefit cuts, backlash

There were calls yesterday for a boycott on what was called “No Timmys Tuesday.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour has organized a number of protests throughout the day in Toronto, Guelph, London, Peterborough and Windsor.

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A statement on Tim Hortons’ corporate website last week placed blame on a “reckless few” franchise owners for employee benefit cuts.

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Condemnation has been swift to the news that owners of two Cobourg locations decided to cut employee benefits and breaks to compensate for a provincial minimum wage hike to $14 an hour, up from $11.60.

READ MORE: Lost jobs, cut hours, no paid breaks. Do minimum wage hikes hurt workers?

Industry groups and business owners have cautioned that the jump in the minimum wage would cause prices to rise and staff to be cut.

Ontario’s minimum wage will rise again in 2019 to $15.

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