Unions pitch minimum wage of $15 per hour in province
Saskatchewan’s largest labour unions are calling for a “rapid phase-in” of a $15 per hour minimum wage in the wake of what they describe as a status quo provincial budget that does not repair the harm done by last year’s budget.
“You can’t build an economy when half of the people in the province are struggling,” Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich said as about 200 people, many toting flags and picket signs, rallied outside the Saskatoon provincial cabinet office.
“Our members have been told to do much more with less for a decade,” Bob Bymoen, president of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU), told the crowd, who expressed their disdain for the government with cries of “Shame!”
Saskatchewan’s minimum wage, which is indexed to the previous minimum wage and the average price of common goods and services, was last raised in October, to $10.96 per hour — the lowest among all the provinces and territories.
Calls for a $15 minimum wage are not new. Various groups have argued for it in the past, and Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili said during the party’s leadership campaign that he would phase it in during his first term as premier, should he be elected.
“Saskatchewan wants to remain competitive so that we can attract and retain and recruit people to live in this province,” said Hubich, who along with Bymoen expressed cautious optimism about building a working relationship with Premier Scott Moe.
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer delivered her first budget last week, just over a year after her predecessor unveiled the 2017-18 budget, which aimed to halve a $1.2 -billion deficit with increased taxes and cuts to services.
Union representatives agreed that the 2018-19 document — which is expected to chop $230 million off a deficit now pegged at $595 million — was “less harsh,” but Bymoen said it doesn’t “undo the damage” caused last year.
Response to the government’s latest budget, which added debt rather than slashing programs, has been muted compared to the outcry that greeted last year’s document. Harpauer said Thursday she has been hearing “a lot of silence.”
Hubich called on the government to reinstate programs cut last year by raising corporate income taxes, which make up four per cent of total government revenue, down from five per cent last year.
“Corporations are getting a free ride in this province, and there’s a whole pool of resources there that government could get revenue from. It’s time we had a fair and balanced taxation system.”