Labour laws can’t rely on business owners’ goodwill

Re Double double, brand in trouble: Tim’s losing its Main Street cred, Wells, Jan. 6

There is something wrong in a wealthy country such as Canada where we still grapple with the fundamental right for a person to earn a “livable” wage without corporate millionaires quibbling over paying for a 15-minute break. There is something wrong with the labour laws that rely on the goodwill of owners to do the right thing. The government has to do the right thing and ensure fair working conditions in a country that has paranoid attitudes toward unions.

As an expatriate from Australia, I find the whole minimum wage discussion somewhat pathetic.

What would happen to these poor owners if, like in Australia, they had to give four weeks paid holiday (in their first year of employment) to each of their employees and God forbid double time for working on a Sunday.

I’ll gladly pay $2.50 for a medium coffee if it means fair and equitable conditions for the workers. Matthew Marosszeky, Aurora