B.C. wages drop further behind rest of Canada

[NAB]

"Don Cayo: B.C. wages drop further behind the rest of Canada

The latest Statistics Canada figures are a serious wake-up call for the province’s economy

excerpt:

Average wages in B.C. have trailed the rest of Canada for a year or more, and now they’re falling even further behind.
This is the bad news emerging from Tuesday’s superficially upbeat release from Statistics Canada on the latest national and provincial average wage figures.

The short story from the report is that Canada-wide average wages rose 2.6 per cent between June 2012 and June 2013 to a new high of $918.67 a week. But the comparable figures in B.C. were just 1.3 per cent and $877 a week."

[Donald G]

The comparatively huge service and tourist trade employment in B.C. and pressures on employee wages and benefits as a result of the job mobility inherent in the move to World Trade have raised the wages in third world countries but lowered the wages and benefits available in industrialized countries like Canada.

Government employee jobs are beginning to stick out like a sore thumb because they are becoming more and more out of balance with private industry. If it was not for the TEMPORARY NON PERMANENT high paying jobs in Alberta (at the moment) the ongoing job and salary disparities would be far more glaring,

[flamingfingers]

The comparatively huge service and tourist trade employment in B.C. and pressures on employee wages and benefits as a result of the job mobility inherent in the move to World Trade have raised the wages in third world countries but lowered the wages and benefits available in industrialized countries like Canada.

Government employee jobs are beginning to stick out like a sore thumb because they are becoming more and more out of balance with private industry. If it was not for the TEMPORARY NON PERMANENT high paying jobs in Alberta (at the moment) the ongoing job and salary disparities would be far more glaring,

What are you saying here? We should equalize wages world-wide, so that wages in other countries (and private industry) are the same regardless of the cost of living, housing prices & etc?

Are you saying that we should lower worker salaries to subsistence levels world wide so they have no money in their pockets to buy anything other than the bare necessities?

Sounds to me you are advocating a race to the bottom like many other large industries/governments (BC included) are attempting.

Money in the pockets of average citizens equals a strong economy.

[hobbyguy]

The foreseeable importation of poverty from flawed free trade policies does not mean that public sector wages are too high. They are just about where general wages should be - if Canadians had been smart enough not to elect Brian (put the money in an envelope) Mulroney.

[Donald G]

To flamingfingers ...

I briefly described a situation that exists and identified one of the most significant reasons that it exists. I stated one example of the consequences of what is taking place by reference to those with 'previously' acceptable Canada wide wage and benefit standards in the public service.

I will not be around long enough to see the many consequences that the whole World Economy initiative will have on the Canadian people; collectively, or in terms of classes. Much of the middle class has been down graded to the regular employee class. The movement of lower paid employees to jobs across the globe and movement of supply 'factories' to countries with salary scales significantly lower than Canada is well underway.

As a world citizen whose ancestors have lived and migrated across Africa, South-east Asis, Europe and North America for the last 50,000 years I have little concept of how the changes associated with World Trade and significant World Weather changes that will take place over the next 75 or 100 years will affect Canada.

I think the energy sources available in Canada and continuing position as a world food producer (even if such areas do move 3 to 400 miles further north and south of the equator) will eventually pull us through. But the standard of living available to the average Canadian employee in the meantime will I believe be significantly lower than it is at the moment ... both salaries and benefits ... including universal health care.