標題: NEWS1130 Special Report: Minimum wage hike [打印本頁] 作者: tiffiant 時間: 2011-3-20 19:44 標題: NEWS1130 Special Report: Minimum wage hike
NEWS1130 Special Report: Minimum wage hike
Poverty and labour groups had been calling for this for years, but restaurant industry says it's yet another blow
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - After ten years, the wage freeze has finally thawed. News1130 is getting reactions to the provincial government's announcement earlier this week to raise the minimum wage in three stages starting May 1.
On that day, it jumps from $8 to $8.75 an hour. In November, it goes up again to $9.50 an hour, before settling at $10.25 on May 1 of next year.
Jim Sinclair with the BC Federation of Labour says the minimum wage needs to change with the cost of living. "It's going to take a year to get there. That is unreasonable, but we'll have to live with that now. We are also disappointed frankly that there is no process after that."
Mark von Schellwitz with the Coalition of BC Businesses says, "The difficulty of this is that it comes at a very, very tough time. There is a lot of small businesses that are just recovering from the recession."
John Winter with the BC Chamber of Commerce says the wage hike might force some industries to cut hours and eliminate jobs. "I think we're going to see the people who perhaps are handed the benefit from this as being the people who probably gain the least from it."
The six-dollar an hour training wage has also been eliminated, but the restaurant industry did get a break. Already reeling from the HST, the minimum wage for liquor servers has been capped at nine dollars an hour.作者: tiffiant 時間: 2011-3-20 19:44
