Key takeaways:
- Province states it’s the first growth pegged to inflation; the labor group says the spike is still insufficient.
- B.C. Minister of Labour Harry Bains declared Monday that B.C.’s lowest salary would go up 45 cents beginning June 1.
The minimum wage of an hour to go up in BC:
The British Columbia government expands the minimum salary by 45 cents to $15.65 an hour, beginning June 1.
The increase is the first to be connected to B.C.’s annual inflation rate, 2.8 percent the previous year.
Labour Minister Harry Bains says it implies B.C. will have the highest minimum wage of any region.
While true, the declaration does not contain Canada’s territories. Nunavut’s minimum salary is higher at $16 an hour, and the minimum wage in Yukon is fixed to increase to $15.70 an hour in April.
Bains said the decision to use the local rate of inflation instead of the national rate was made to mirror the requirements of B.C. workers better.
Also read: Ottawa urged to halt offered B.C. port addition, evaluate the alternative plan
He said the growth is anticipated to draw more workers to the region while assuring costs for businesses.
“We completely understand that businesses are still hurting coming out of the outbreak and that workers, living in one of the highest living expense places, are still struggling,” Bains told a press conference.
“Having a proper minimum wage is a critical step in our grind to raise people out of poverty, to make life more inexpensive, and to persist B.C.’s strong financial recovery.”
The B.C. Federation of Labour said it was pleased with the news, but the minimum salary is “still well below” the amount a household ought to cover basic expenses.
“Every employee should be able to gain a wage that makes their neighborhood affordable and livable, no matter where they stay in B.C.,” Sussanne Skidmore, the federation’s secretary-treasurer, stated in a press release.
Source – cbc.ca
