BC Fair Wages Commission

2,563 actions

goal: 4,000

Tens of thousands of British Columbians who earn minimum wage are living below the poverty line, even if they work full time. [1]

The new BC NDP government has promised to raise the minimum wage to $15. It’s a long overdue change that is desperately needed to ensure all workers can make ends meet, but there are some important details left to figure out.

An independent Fair Wages Commission is studying how to implement the wage hike, and if we don’t pipe up they could slow down the timeline for implementation and even exclude some types of workers.

They’re looking for input on when the minimum wage increase should be put in place, who should be excluded from it, and how our minimum wage legislation should be reviewed over time. We’re recommending that:

The wage increase starts in January 2019
No workers should be exempted from this (including servers and farm workers)
The commission is made permanent, so that the minimum wage can be regularly reviewed

The deadline to submit feedback to the commission is 4pm on Dec 7th. If we act fast, we can flood the commission with requests to implement the minimum wage hike quickly and for all workers. Can you send a message now?

Sources:
[1]

Subject

It’s time for a $15/hr minimum wage. The current minimum wage in BC leaves workers below the poverty line. There are nearly 500,000 workers in our province earning poverty wages and they need your support.

Low wages have a real and negative impact on workers in BC – growing inequality, displacement from housing, food insecurity, and the social impacts of poverty on our communities. Workers and their families are struggling and that means our communities are struggling because low wages impact all of us. We need to do better. And we can, by putting an end to poverty wages in BC.

I believe the Fair Wages Commission should recommend increasing the minimum wage to $15/hr by January 2019. Alberta and Ontario will also have $15/hr minimum wages by 2019. We can’t leave BC workers behind.

Further, we need a single minimum wage in BC. It is time to get rid of the lower liquor server wage, piece rates for farm workers and other wage exemptions. All workers deserve a wage above the poverty line.

Making the Fair Wages Commission permanent, with the ability to recommend adjustments to the minimum wage and wage-related employment standards, will ensure that low-wage workers won't fall behind again.

The Fair Wages Commission has an opportunity to improve the lives of British Columbians. Make the right choice for workers in BC.

Thank you for your work to bring fair wages to BC.

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