Province of B.C. considers bumping up minimum wage
Posted September 30, 2010 6:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Labour Ministry says after years of debate, the Province is thinking about raising the minimum wage.
Minister Murray Coell made the comments at a meeting in Whistler just ahead of the Union of BC Municipalities Conference starting today.
B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair tells us after years of not listening to local governments or to the people of B.C., the Province is finally moving ahead on the issue, and it’s a “shocking” event.
“The labour minister has said what 80 per cent of British Columbians believe, [that] it’s well past the time to raise the minimum wage. What I haven’t heard – which is the second part of that, which British Columbians want – is to go to at least $10, so we’re not still a disgrace in the rest of Canada.”
Sinclair says, “It’s not acceptable to have the lowest minimum wage in Canada. So… it is slightly encouraging – an inch forward.”
Right now, the mimimum wage in BC. is $8 per hour, while the entry level starting wage is just $6 per hour.
Labour Minister Murray Coell has so far been unavailable for comment.
