Ms. Laura Jones, vice-president of Western Canada for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, had the following op-ed piece in the June 3, 2010 The Province. It is reprinted here with her permission.
Union greed in disguise 'Living wage' shuts out small business
By Laura Jones, The Province June 3, 2010New Westminster city council should be ashamed of itself. It recently passed a policy that promises to increase property taxes for everyone and shut small businesses out of opportunities to bid on local contracts.
Municipal politicians in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows should give their heads a shake for considering following suit.
Those pushing this policy came up with a very enticing name for it: a "living-wage" policy.
The "living wage" effectively becomes the new minimum wage for city staff in New Westminster and anyone wanting to do business with the municipality.
How much are we talking about? The minimum wage in this province is $8 an hour. The "living wage" was last calculated at $18.17 an hour.
More than doubling the minimum wage is seen as credible policy.
Provincial politicians are smart enough to know that doubling the minimum wage would cause a massive increase in unemployment and make many people in this province a lot worse off.
If you are a municipal employee earning less than the living wage and now get paid more, you feel great. But what if you are on a fixed income and property tax rises to pay for the extra cost of those municipal wages?
And taxes will have to go up unless the city plans to lay some people off -- but I can't see that as being in the spirit of the policy.
What if you are the small business owner who wanted to supply muffins to the city cafeteria but you cannot stay in business if you pay your dishwasher $18.17 an hour? Most small businesses will be shut out of bidding on local contracts.
Since most people working for the city probably earn more than the "living wage," you may be tempted to conclude it's a stupid, fairly benign policy. Think again.
If the lowest wage is now $18.17, what does the person who was earning near that want now? The policy was rejected in Calgary after its city staff pointed out "a living-wage policy could fundamentally alter the city's approach to collective bargaining as the establishment of fair compensation is no longer determined by the labour market."
The living wage would set a new floor for wage negotiations, which would cause wage inflation -- paid for with more tax increases. Let's call the living wage what it really is, union greed dressed up in compelling words. Don't fall for it.
- Laura Jones is vice-president of Western Canada for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
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6 comments:
For those of you who think that campaign donations are done in an altruistic manner -think again.
This latest move by the District Labor Council endorsed Councillors is another payoff for their support. This is nothing more than an attempt to jack up the wage structure and to limit contracting out to union companies. The non DLC councillors and the Mayor should hang their head in shame over this one.
The Mayor has voted with the DLC on every major vote, particularly transportation issues. He too needs to pay back the District Labor Council for their support.
There is no doubt, the ideological whackjobs are running New West.,
I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I'm quite unsure what "union greed" has to do with the living wage policy.
I also take issue with the idea of property taxes being raised to pay for the living wage. I think we can all agree that an individual earning $8/hr, this province's shameful minimum wage, could never afford to buy a house. The whole point is to sort out income inequities. Homes in New Westminster are extremely expensive. If someone who can afford to own that house has to pay a little bit more so that someone else can afford to put food on the table, that's fine by me. And how often do small business bid for contracts with the city? If anyone is providing muffins, chances are it's Tim Hortons. And if a small business is lucky enough to land a small business contract, they will charge more so that they can pay their employees well.
Calgary does not need a living wage policy as badly as New West as the minimum wage there is $.80 higher than BC even though cost of living is lower.
As poverty in BC increases, I don't believe that "fair compensation" is decided by the labour market.
Nadine, if you don't understand the relationships between the different parts of the wage structure than you have your head in the sand.
As the bottom moves up, wage creep occurs.
The minimum wage should go up, and it should have a formula to keep it periodically have increases. To introduce an issue such as livable wage at the local level is ridiculous.
It is nothing more than a payoff by the union endorsed candidates to their funders and handlers.
The other members of council simply don't have the guts to vote against it.
Also, you are wrong, lot's of small businesses supply the city.
Nadine, thanks for commenting, it is nice to have discussions on this site. Voice, and what it represents is a much needed addition to the city.
This comment by McEvoy, in relation to the Living Wage reminded me of the pier issue:
“We still have work to do to clearly identify those who are involved and the potential costs,” he said. “The finality of the details still needs to be worked on. We have made a decision in principle that this is our principle and our goal.”
- from Theresa McManus's blog
Let's agree to it and then we'll figure out if the City can afford it and who will pay.
The unions must have a whole room of people coming up with euphemisms like "living wage" to try and trick the public into complacency. Probably the same people who came up with the idea to portray CUPE's bottled water ban as an "environmental issue" instead of calling it what it is: an effort to combat contracting out which tends to keep union demands in check.
At the information meeting that ACORN, McEvoy and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives held a while back one of the panel stated that this would, in essence, do away with contracting out.It would appear that Sid has a point.
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