B.C.’s $8 minimum wage turns eight

B.C.’s $8-an-hour minimum wage turned eight Sunday, and the B.C. Federation of Labour says eight is enough.

The labour group marked the "disgraceful" anniversary by handing out stickers and signing petitions asking for higher wages.

And the Fed’s Young Workers Committee took to Vancouver’s downtown with some street theatre, by taking up position in key corners of the city and "freezing" in poses to spread the word.

"It’s absolutely disgraceful," B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair said at the Burrard SkyTrain station. "When the $8-an-hour wage was brought in, it was the highest in Canada.

"Now we have the lowest wage rate in Canada."

While the B.C. Fed activists handed out stickers calling for a $10-an-hour minimum wage, B.C. Chamber of Commerce president John Winter said that the ongoing recession means this is not the time to add costs to struggling businesses.

"The government, in our opinion, has done good, looking after low- and medium-income workers in this province," said Winter.

"People who are paid lower wages pay the lowest taxes in Canada."

Winter said last year the push for higher wages made more sense.

"When the economy gets hot, it becomes an issue," he said. "The campaign gained momentum last year, but I think right now people are just happy to have a job."

Struggling students say the $8 wage freeze makes it almost impossible to get ahead.

"I’m basically making the same as I did when I was 16," said 22-year-old Helena Friesen. "It needs to go up – it’s not enough."

Photography student Akeem Nermo said he doesn’t know where he’ll find the money to buy expensive cameras needed to pursue his career.

"I even live at home, and I still find it a struggle," said Nermo, 21. "Everything’s going up except the minimum wage."

Premier Gordon Campbell maintains that the minimum-wage law doesn’t need updating because most people in B.C. make more than the minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage, according to the premier, would mean many corporations would be forced to lay off employees at a time when jobs are scarce.

But Sinclair said the poor are losing out as the gulf increases between the wealthy and the workers.

"B.C.’s lowest-paid workers have been left behind by the Campbell government because our minimum wage has been frozen since 2001," said Sinclair.

"And the number of minimum-wage jobs in B.C. has actually increased since 2001 when the Liberals were first elected – a sure sign that economic prosperity isn’t being shared in our province."

MINIMUM WAGES ACROSS CANADA

Provincial minimum wage rates (as of Oct. 1, 2009):

Alberta $8.80

B.C. $8.00

Manitoba $9.00

New Brunswick $8.25

Newfoundland $9.00

N.W.T. $8.25

Nova Scotia $8.60

Nunavut $10.00

Ontario $9.50

P.E.I. $8.40

Quebec $9.00

Saskatchewan $9.25

Yukon $8.89

– Source: about.com

PROVINCE ONLINE READERS WEIGH IN:

John Webster:

A raise in the basic compensation for minimum-wage earners will trickle out to all, even those misers unwilling to share when those additional dollars get spent in our economy. Greed is hampering our economy from being the best in the best place on Earth. It’s about time to see some leadership from those in Victoria and Ottawa on this matter.

Concerned:

If an employer has to raise his operating costs (i.e. higher wage), he’ll do things to keep costs down, such as hiring fewer employees, spreading the work among existing staff, letting people go . . . increasing the minimum wage leads to greater unemployment.

Amie:

I think it should be higher. What can you really buy for $8 these days? I can’t afford anything. It should be at least $10 an hour.

B:

You can make $14-$15 an hour in Dawson Creek working at A&W. If people really can’t afford the cost of living here, there are other options.

My2cent:

Eight dollars an hour these days is only going to generate more and more poverty down the road.

There are going to be a lot more homeless [people] and crimes will be on the rise since people aren’t going to be able to afford to provide healthy environments for their children, with parents having to work two jobs, seven days a week, only going to leave their kids unparented and out on the streets meeting the wrong people and doing the wrong deeds.

E-mail: iaustin@theprovince.com