B.C.'s minimum wage to be increased to $16.75 per hour

[Babba_not_Gump]

Why is it so important for us to have the highest minimum wage in Canada? Also, this wage does not only affect 150,000 workers. It affects the entire wage structure. The day of the $25 burger is coming sooner than expected.

It's here, the $25 hamburger.

Meanwhile businesses continue to get hammered with ever increasing wages (which are generally ok), more stat holidays, more taxes, increased cost of goods and those ever increasing taxes.
And don't forget that carbon tax which impacts every item they buy.

[GordonH]

Out of curiosity if there wasn’t a set minimum wage, does anyone have an idea what customer service jobs would be paying.

[Babba_not_Gump]

Out of curiosity if there wasn’t a set minimum wage, does anyone have an idea what customer service jobs would be paying.

Probably a rate similar to the current minimum wage.

The availability of jobs becomes the main factor, more jobs than workers then higher wages. And more workers then jobs then lower wages.
Supply and demand.

And if the wage is too low people won't work. Companies will adjust.

[69cutlass]

Why is it so important for us to have the highest minimum wage in Canada? Also, this wage does not only affect 150,000 workers. It affects the entire wage structure. The day of the $25 burger is coming sooner than expected.

It's here, the $25 hamburger.

Meanwhile businesses continue to get hammered with ever increasing wages (which are generally ok), more stat holidays, more taxes, increased cost of goods and those ever increasing taxes.
And don't forget that carbon tax which impacts every item they buy.

[fluffy]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

[Nedroj]

Why is it so important for us to have the highest minimum wage in Canada? Also, this wage does not only affect 150,000 workers. It affects the entire wage structure. The day of the $25 burger is coming sooner than expected.

It's here, the $25 hamburger.

Meanwhile businesses continue to get hammered with ever increasing wages (which are generally ok), more stat holidays, more taxes, increased cost of goods and those ever increasing taxes.
And don't forget that carbon tax which impacts every item they buy.

Its been here for over a year. Kelly O'briens Bacon Cheddar burger, regular lattice cut fries = 26$
If you want Pachos that's an extra 5$ for a total of 31$ before taxes and of course a 25% tip

Special note: Their burgers used to be two decent-sized beef patties, more than enough burger for any fully grown man.
There are still two patties but they are not the same thickness they used to be.

This is my main complaint, the minimum wage goes up, costs goes up, tip expectations goes up, yet quality and quantity go down.

[Patron]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

[Nedroj]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

If you are stuck working a minimum wage job due to only having a high school diploma then the answer to a better-paying career is to "go back to school" not demand to be paid more for doing basic work.

If you are stuck working a minimum wage job because you live in a small town without a lot of career opportunities then the best solution is to "move to a better city with more employment opportunities" not demand that employment opportunities come to you.

If you have an education and are stuck at a company that pays its employees a lower salary than its competitors, then the best solution is to "get a better job" if you have already asked for a raise and have been denied.

Guess what? I've done ALL THREE OF THESE. They are not shortsighted "platitudes". If fact what you are prescribing is a heightened sense of entitlement that seems to be plaguing our younger society.

I moved to Calgary because in 2001 there were hardly any jobs anywhere in the Okanagan Valley.
I went to SAIT and took night courses to get a raise at the engineering firm I started working at.
After I completed the night courses my employer only gave me a 1$ raise (total 8$/hr) so I quit and moved back to the Okanagan and got a job starting at 17$ in 2004 and have been here ever since.

Back when the 80's recession hit, my family had to move from our home in Armstrong to Dawson Creek because my dad lost his job and needed to find a new one. So we moved to where there was work. This was very normal and when we could afford to move back to the Okanagan and secure employment, we did.

A systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed

This is called communism or also known as just plain theft, you decide but either way, it is immoral to take away from others that which they worked hard to earn.

CEO's work 50-80 hours a week to get to that position. If they are good at running their company they will make a profit and he/she deserves a high salary for that success. If they are not good at their jobs they go broke, the company is dissolved and everyone loses their jobs.

[rustled]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

Paulo Freire would be soooo proud of this example of what happens when people are properly groomed for a perpetual cultural revolution.

Yes, someone working a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. We have never been able to do that by staying in a minimum wage job, though, because the realistic value of their contribution IS recognized: it's a minimum wage job. It's a starting point.

People who expect a living wage for going to work no matter what they do at work are the dream children of a utopian ideology.

Today's cost of living is being artificially driven up by government policies, taxes and outright expenditures. That's the part of the system that's most impacting people's discretionary income, yet here we see a call for "a systemic re-distribution of wealth". A prime example of the "thinking" behind that utopian ideology.

[Nedroj]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

Paulo Freire would be soooo proud of this example of what happens when people are properly groomed for a perpetual cultural revolution.

Yes, someone working a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. We have never been able to do that by staying in a minimum wage job, though, because the realistic value of their contribution IS recognized: it's a minimum wage job. It's a starting point.

People who expect a living wage for going to work no matter what they do at work are the dream children of a utopian ideology.

Today's cost of living is being artificially driven up by government policies, taxes and outright expenditures. That's the part of the system that's most impacting people's discretionary income, yet here we see a call for "a systemic re-distribution of wealth". A prime example of the "thinking" behind that utopian ideology.

[Even Steven]

Fun fact : $30 burger tastes exactly the same as $12 burger few years ago.

[JLives]

Underneath all the rhetoric is the issue of just what the employee's place in the supply line is, and the morality behind concepts like minimum wage and a living wage. We find it easy to brush off things like CEOs making multi-million dollar salaries as "the way things should be" yet scoff at the idea that someone with a full-time job should be able to bring home enough money to deal with today's cost of living. "Go back to school" or "Just get a better job", or my personal favorite "If you can't afford to live here then move", or other equally short-sighted platitudes fill the airwaves while the basic immorality of economic inequality goes unchallenged. The system is broken, a systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed, and part of that means that low income earners need the realistic value of their contribution to be recognized.

If you are stuck working a minimum wage job due to only having a high school diploma then the answer to a better-paying career is to "go back to school" not demand to be paid more for doing basic work.

If you are stuck working a minimum wage job because you live in a small town without a lot of career opportunities then the best solution is to "move to a better city with more employment opportunities" not demand that employment opportunities come to you.

If you have an education and are stuck at a company that pays its employees a lower salary than its competitors, then the best solution is to "get a better job" if you have already asked for a raise and have been denied.

Guess what? I've done ALL THREE OF THESE. They are not shortsighted "platitudes". If fact what you are prescribing is a heightened sense of entitlement that seems to be plaguing our younger society.

I moved to Calgary because in 2001 there were hardly any jobs anywhere in the Okanagan Valley.
I went to SAIT and took night courses to get a raise at the engineering firm I started working at.
After I completed the night courses my employer only gave me a 1$ raise (total 8$/hr) so I quit and moved back to the Okanagan and got a job starting at 17$ in 2004 and have been here ever since.

Back when the 80's recession hit, my family had to move from our home in Armstrong to Dawson Creek because my dad lost his job and needed to find a new one. So we moved to where there was work. This was very normal and when we could afford to move back to the Okanagan and secure employment, we did.

A systemic re-distribution of wealth is needed

This is called communism or also known as just plain theft, you decide but either way, it is immoral to take away from others that which they worked hard to earn.

CEO's work 50-80 hours a week to get to that position. If they are good at running their company they will make a profit and he/she deserves a high salary for that success. If they are not good at their jobs they go broke, the company is dissolved and everyone loses their jobs.

The economy you grew up in doesn't exist anymore.

[Gone_Fishin]

GB and I went for lunch recently, my turn to treat.

Nothing extravagant, food was good, no booze just soft drinks. No dessert. No coffees.

After GST and a reasonable tip for good service, the bill was $91.

Welcome to wealth redistribution.

[JLives]

GB and I went for lunch recently, my turn to treat.

Nothing extravagant, food was good, no booze just soft drinks. No dessert. No coffees.

After GST and a reasonable tip for good service, the bill was $91.

Welcome to wealth redistribution.

That's expensive for 1 person. Wow.

[Gone_Fishin]

GB and I went for lunch recently, my turn to treat.

Nothing extravagant, food was good, no booze just soft drinks. No dessert. No coffees.

After GST and a reasonable tip for good service, the bill was $91.

Welcome to wealth redistribution.

That's expensive for 1 person. Wow.

Just because you don't have any friends, don't assume the same for others.

Maybe join the Marxist Party of Canada, you might find someone who can tolerate you.