Business group advocates better pay for workers

Hamilton business owner speaks at Toronto conference promoting benefits of a good salary

Hamiltonian Damin Starr is one of several Ontario entrepreneurs attending a conference aimed at building the economy who made an argument not commonly heard in business circles: paying workers more can help companies make more money.

Starr joined Premier Kathleen Wynne on a slate of speakers at a conference in Toronto on Tuesday called “Smart Employers Talk: building a better economy one job at a time,” where business owners and managers shared stories on improving employee relations and incomes while maintaining or improving profits.

Many of the speakers came from small companies that pay their workers a living wage, or well above the minimum, and offer perks like paid sick days — as one panellist put it, treating employees like an asset, not an expense.

Starr co-owns and operates PreLine Processing in Lincoln, a small fabrication business. He pays his employees a living wage of $17.57 and offers flexible scheduling and benefits.

He says the added costs are offset by improved production, reduced staff turnover and fewer mistakes, with his workers becoming more committed to their jobs. He has also saved money by reducing his reliance on temporary staff and outsourcing.

He said that business owners whose employees are making poverty-level wages should give their operations a hard look.

“I looked in the mirror one day after the recession and asked myself, ‘Would I work here?’ The answer was no, so I knew I had to change.”

The event was organized by Ryerson University’s Centre for Labour Management Relations and the Better Way to Build the Economy Alliance, an organization launched earlier this year to promote the economic and business benefits of providing secure, well-paid jobs.

It comes as the Ontario government works to promote a significant package of labour law changes introduced earlier this year. They include raising the minimum wage to $14 next year and $15 in 2019, as well as increasing paid vacation from two to three weeks a year for some workers, requiring schedules to be posted two weeks in advance and guaranteeing three hours of pay if shifts are cancelled last-minute.

There has been much criticism of the proposed changes. The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario on Tuesday published a blog post predicting the minimum wage increase “will result in a loss of approximately 50,000 jobs … with job losses concentrated among teens and young adults.” That number was notably lower than the estimate of 185,000 job losses released in August by a coalition of business groups including the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Council of Canada.

In her keynote address, Wynne said it never feels like the right time for business to raise the minimum wage or provide more benefits but at some point, it has to be done.

“We have seen business grow over the last decade. We have done a lot to support business in this province.

“At the same time, we want to make sure we have a balanced approach … Ontario is doing so well but, in fact, there are many people who are feeling increasingly uncertain about what their future is going to look like.”

Wynne, who was accompanied by Labour Minister and Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, said she has been listening to stakeholder feedback on the labour reform proposal and may make changes regarding temporary workers and scheduling.

Many of the speakers stressed that strong employee relations are part of their brand and attracted customers who may not have found them otherwise.

Helmi Ansari, co-founder of Grosche International, said he believes there’s no other way to do business.

“You go from making a product that people like to a brand people love,” said Ansari, whose Cambridge, Ont.-based business makes coffee and tea accessories.

“When we treat our people well, they treat our customers well and there is no other way to survive in business.”

... we treat our people well, they treat our customers well ... HELMI ANSARI