Is there a problem with a livable wage?

Hey steemies!!

I wanted to post about my recent frozen Rockies getaway today, it's still coming I promise and have lots to talk about, first I have a bit of a beef or rant. With the turn of the new year, Ontario's premier Wynn, hiked the minimum wage from a little over $11/h to $14. I personally believe it's a great win for the lowest paid. Unfortunately everybody is up in arms and some businesses including rogue independent owners and children of the founders of the brand Tim Horton ( they are not the only one but having a net worth of over a billion dollars it's hard to go unnoticed)decided to pick on their staff and eliminate perks like paid breaks and having employees pay a large portion of their health benefits and reduce hours to offset additional costs, now these employees may actually be making less then before the hike. They informed their employees of the changes from their Florida vacation.

Many regular folks like you and I are also outraged at this hike because their goods may cost a few cents more now. I'm part of a union and the union stands for livable wages and fair working conditions, why are my union brothers upset at a win for workers?? I don't understand, isn't that what we are all about in the first place?? So why take the stance of rich billionaires so they can get richer and further wealth inequality that has become rampant within our nation that provincial government is trying to fix? Everybody complains about capitalism and how it's not fair, yet the goverment is finally doing something to help the lowest paid and they get roasted for it and everyone think the sky is falling and Ontario's economy will be left in shambles.

The only point I can agree with is they have to large of a hike at once and it should have been split over a few years instead. Realistically, the minimum wage across the country has never kept up with the rate of inflation and some business owners lack integrity and have been taking it as a suggested wage rather than a starting point ultimately keeping low wage workers below the poverty line and struggling to pay rent food and other basic life necessities. Fair to say same for the worker apply ,minimum wage jobs require minimum skills therefore not a viable career path and only a starting point while obtaining a degree or skill. The situation just didn't allow for a person to be able to afford a post secondary education unless you come from a well off family or go into ridiculous amounts of debt to get there.

I was there I did it and it was hard, minimum wage was much less back then at a whopping $ 5.00/ hour....I can certainly relate to the struggle. I used to work 2 full time jobs and a part time job to make ends meet before my post secondary education, yet I still had next to no food to eat in the meantime. When did I sleep?? I used to say I will sleep when I'm dead, because at the time I couldn't afford to work less than 90 hours a week for at least half the year 50 hours being the minimum for the rest of the year and earned around 11 000/year ...now that's brutal folks. Thankfully that was almost 15 years ago and I don't have to deal with this anymore but anybody working that many hours per week isn't lazy and deserves a pay adequate to provide for basic necessities.

Here in Alberta we went through the exact same situation, Actually having the lowest minimum wage in the country to having the highest at $15 per hour and everyone got chicken little syndrome over it. Here is how $15 an hour "destroyed" our province : In the middle of oil price collapse and 100 000's of thousands of high paying jobs lost in the energy sector, the service industry boomed and created 26 000 new full time positions in 2017 because it stimulated a stagnant economy, being the sector with the most growth in ALL OF CANADA...imagine that eh! Because of the increase in wages, low paid workers were now able to afford a few extra things introducing the money back into such businesses. Don't worry Ontario the sky isn't falling! There are fast food joints at every street corner for a reason, customers will still come if your burger cost 10 cent more or your cup of coffee goes up 3 cents isn't going to put anyone in the poor-house. Workers deserve a livable wage and it is pretty sad that someone would make more on social assistance than having a job....what is the incentive on getting a job then?? Well Ontario's $14/h and Alberta's $15 sounds better than government assistance now doesn't it, it also helps fill vacancies that would otherwise been looked over because of low wages and retain workers, further reducing training costs of new employees!

Another point, Teens do not need to be paid $14/h , it's a few $ less. We are in a time with the lowest youth employment Canada has ever seen, perhaps this will be additional incentive for employers too be willing to employ and train our youth again and give them much needed skills and work experience they will require in their future instead of passing them over because of the burden they may add by being in-experienced.

If you are part of the Canadian middle class that is against this wage hike, Shame on you, this helps everyone and the minimum wage workers make up around 10% of the working population, really not that much in the grand scheme of things. Last year, along with all the energy sector jobs lost, we also lost wages and some of our benefits, all of my union brothers and sisters were pissed and so was I and we thought it was unfair, why are the same people wishing the same unfair situation on the lowest paid?? it's kind of disgusting frankly. Get over it...seriously, fix you spending habits and consume less if it's going to have that large of an impact on your wallet. In an age where Canadian's consumer debt is at an all time high not seen since the roaring 20's, it's probably a benefit to consume less anyway.

Feel free to add any argument against or for the issue at hand. I understand we all see things from a different point of view, lets discuss it.

how are you impacted by a minimum wage hike?

Do you think it's a step in the right direction or will it be detrimental?

Are there other ways to alleviate cost to the employer while employees still being rightfully compensated? perhaps profit share program? Shares into the company after X amount of years of service or X amount of hours worked?

Image courtesy of facebook group "the other 98%"

Alright rant over!! Peace out Steemians ! xox