One of the reasons BC New Democratic Party was able to form government, with support from BC Green Party, is that it keyed in on the cost of living issue, promising to make life for BC residents more affordable.
BC Liberal Party made a fatal mistake believing that because the economy was doing well they had the election in the bag. The Liberals’ line has always been that the solution to poverty is a job, but that assumes every job will lift an individual or family out of poverty. That has not been true for a very long time.
NDP’s election promise to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour over four years sounds dramatic given that BC has the lowest minimum wage in the country at $10.85. But even $15 an hour is a long way from meeting the goal of what has been dubbed a living wage.
According to the 2015 Vital Signs report for Powell River, the living wage (for a two-earner family of four) in our community was $21.30 per hour, or about $39,000 per year, yet 53 per cent of income earners here earned below $30,000 and 39 per cent below $20,000 for the year.
Many in the business community express anxiety about increases in minimum wage, which is understandable given that some in Powell River have trouble making their payrolls now. But many studies have shown that while there is an initial period of difficult adjustment for some businesses, everyone benefits mid to long term. People earning a higher minimum wage will have an additional $200 a week to spend in local shops.
Wages in general have been flat for decades. A Statistics Canada study in 2005 showed that between 1980 and 2005 the real increase in average income was just $52 after inflation. In other words, $2 per year for 25 years.
One of the reasons is changes in laws and regulations that favour the employer over the employee. Less than one third of people who pay into employment insurance ever qualify for it, down from 75 per cent in the 1980s.
Social assistance rates are punitively low. These two factors mean people are loathe to quit jobs, even if their employer is harassing them or forcing them to work overtime with no pay, as some do.
Employees’ bargaining positions are weakened further by the fact that governments no longer strictly enforce labour standards, such as the law that says you have to be paid time-and-a-half for overtime.
Paying employees a decent wage is the social responsibility of employers. While some local businesses are close to the edge, many could easily afford to pay their employees more.
The city is already doing its part. It pays union wages to its employees and has not contracted out services like so many other communities. It is time for private-sector employers to step up and pay their workers enough to bring them and their families out of poverty.
Murray Dobbin is a Powell River freelance writer and social commentator.
