Double double trouble
Rally held at outlet to show support for Tim Hortons workers whose benefits were cut after minimum wage was hiked to $14
About 30 demonstrators gathered at Tim Hortons on Monaghan Rd. at Lansdowne St. W. on Wednesday to protest reductions to employee benefits at some of the chain’s locations.
Some Tim Hortons have cut out paid breaks and health benefits following the minimum wage increase to $14.
Demonstrators at the local rally represented the Peterborough and District Labour Council, the Council of Canadians, Unifor and CUPE.
It was one of several rallies planned outside Tim Hortons locations in Southern Ontario on Wednesday, all organized by the Ontario Federation of Labour.
There were rallies planned at nine locations in Toronto as well as in London, Guelph, Windsor, Dundas and Cobourg.
In Peterborough, demonstrators marched in the freezing rain and waved large union flags.
“We’re here in support of Tim Hortons workers,” said Doug McDonald, treasurer of the Peterborough and District Labour Council.
Employees at a shop owned by Tim Hortons children in Cobourg recently received notices that they would lose their health benefits and paid breaks as the minimum wage increase came into effect on Jan. 1 (see related coverage on Page A2).
Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the parent company of Tim Hortons, said only a few “rogue” franchisees implemented such cuts.
But McDonald believes the cuts are widespread: he thinks at least four of the 18 Tim Hortons in Peterborough are cutting employee benefits, for example, although he wouldn’t say which ones because he has only anecdotal evidence.
Though some regular customers across Ontario have developed a social media campaign called #NoTimmiesTuesday, McDonald said demonstrators weren’t calling for a boycott.
“We aren’t trying to hurt the workers – we want this to be resolved,” he said.
Marion Burton, president of the labour council, said organizers chose Tim Hortons on Monaghan Rd. for the rally because it has lots of parking and is located at a highly-visible intersection.
The shop is owned by Erika Howe-Gallagher, who was working at the time of the rally. She had no comment for The Examiner.
Neither did three corporate workers from Tim Hortons who happened to be in the shop while the demonstrators were outside.
The Great White North Franchisee Association, which represents half of Canadian Tim Hortons franchisees, estimates the minimum wage increase plus other changes to labour laws will cost each franchisee about $243,000 a year – and also that RBI wouldn’t allow the shops to increase their prices in response.
It’s too bad prices won’t be adjusted, McDonald said.
“I’ve heard people say, ‘I’ll gladly pay 10 cents more for coffee for Tim Hortons to pay a fair wage,’” he said.
Morgan Carl, founder of the new Youth Political Activist Coalition, was also at the rally.
The coalition is for young activists ranging in age from Grade 9 to university students. Carl says they do anti-poverty activism.
On Wednesday he was there to show support for the minimum wage increase and for Tim Hortons workers.
“Nobody working a full-time job should be living below the poverty line.”