The first day of June marked four years that Tieghan Keller has worked as a server at Kelly O’Bryan’s Neighborhood Restaurant.
It also coincided with a minimum wage hike in B.C.
“Very special day, yeah. The boss gave me a raise and I’m happy … He said it’s a four-year raise, but everyone gets the same raise,” he said jokingly.
The minimum wage is now $15.20 an hour. That’s an increase of 60 cents from $14.60 an hour.
The mandated hike puts B.C. in second place for the highest minimum wage in Canada at $15.20 an hour. The Territory of Nunavut is $16 an hour.
“Very expensive to live here. This will help keep me in Kelowna longer,” Keller said.
In 2017, when the minimum wage was $11.35 an hour, the NDP government laid out a plan to raise the minimum wage every June 1st for four years.
The NDP also said it would end the so-called server’s wage on June 1, 2021.
Historically, liquor servers have earned less than minimum wage, relying on tips to make up the difference.
For servers, like Keller, it means the latest minimum wage hike will increase his pay by $1.25 from the $13.95 he was making.
“I think it’s great,” Keller said. “I think a lot of people didn’t know that we got paid less than others, and I think this just makes it a little more fair.
“We work just as hard and just as many hours.”
The B.C. Federation of Labour is applauding the wage increase.
“This is a good day for workers and this is a good day for the economy because they’ll put that extra (wage) largely into their communities,” said Laird Cronk, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour (BCFL).
But the BCFL said that with the cost of living continuously on the rise, it will be advocating for the minimum wage to continue going up.
“These workers still need a stronger wage in the future,” said Cronk, adding what they’d really like to see is a living wage for workers.
Cronk said the BCFL is also very concerned for farmworkers, who are exempt from the minimum wage hike and can legally be paid by piece rate, which is less than minimum wage.
“We need to get rid of all these exemptions that still exist for some workers. All workers, when it’s a minimum legal wage, should be entitled to at least that minimum wage,” he said. “We should not have exemptions for workers.”
The BCFL said it will continue to advocate for farmworkers to make sure they get the same minimum standards as every other worker in British Columbia.
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