There is much to take issue with in Brandon Ellis’ letter to the editor (“Make minimum-wage increases predictable, reasonable,” Aug. 1, 2020), not least of which is his premise that any increase to the minimum wage other than keeping pace with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) denies “a level of fairness and predictability for both the employer and the employee.”
Taking the current minimum wage that people cannot afford to live on and indexing it to inflation may be predictable, but it is hardly fair or reasonable for the employee.
As we stated in our submission to the Minimum Wage Review Committee, almost half of minimum wage workers in this province are full-time employees. They are not part-time students or youth earning pocket money; they are primary wage earners struggling to provide for households and families on the second-lowest minimum wage in the country. When we consider that the recommended threshold for shelter costs — including utilities — is 30 per cent of income, surviving on our current minimum wage is a constant struggle.
The average one-bedroom apartment in St. John’s would require more than 72 hours of labour at our present minimum wage, two weeks’ wages for a full-time minimum-wage earner. It’s even worse for a single parent, 80 per cent of whom are women. The average two-bedroom apartment would require 84 hours of labour at minimum wage, and this doesn’t include the impact of child-care expenses on their monthly budget. A couple with a child, both earning minimum wage, would still pay 44 hours of labour for rent. Our current minimum wage is not a fair wage, it is a poverty wage.
The average one-bedroom apartment in St. John’s would require more than 72 hours of labour at our present minimum wage, two weeks’ wages for a full-time minimum-wage earner. I
One thing the pandemic should have highlighted for all of us is the important work minimum-wage workers do and how dangerous that essential work can be. They deserve to be appropriately compensated for their labour. Ellis’ suggestion that we should merely index their current wages to inflation means workers will continue to struggle to meet their basic needs for years to come. Allowing employers to exploit the labour of our fellow citizens in this way is not only unjust, but contrary to the values of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, an overwhelming majority of whom support a $15 minimum wage.
Our recommendation to the Minimum Wage Review Committee was to increase the minimum wage to $15 without delay and schedule a move towards a living wage with subsequent increases based on the CPI. If indeed our new premier seeks to provide “a level of fairness and predictability for both the employer and the employee,” he should adopt this recommendation and end the indignity endured for far too long by minimum wage workers in this province. We cannot go forward as a province if we continue to prevent over 60,000 workers from earning a living wage, the time for fairness is now.
Mark Nichols, organizer
$15 for Fairness NL
