Thursday’s announcement that BC’s minimum wage is going up to $10.45 an hour isn’t living up to ongoing push to raise wages past the poverty line.
During the announcement, Jobs Minister Shirley Bond wrote off the BC Federation of Labour’s push for a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, saying the average wage is already $25 an hour for adults, and just under $15 an hour for youth.
“I understand the debate,” Bond says. “I have been very respectful in listening to the arguments that the BC Federation of Labour has provided, but we’ve also been very clear that the minimum wage is only one of the tools that we use to support low income workers in the province.”
BC Federation of Labour President Irene Lanzinger doesn’t buy that and says they will still push their “Fight for 15” campaign.
“Absolutely, we are not giving up,” she says. “That is a wage that lifts people out of poverty. Our government gave the wealthiest 2% of British Colombians a tax break in February worth hundreds of millions of dollars and they have done nothing to address the issue of poverty.”
Lanzinger says BC is the only province that doesn’t have a poverty reduction plan.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
