Rally calls for minimum wage hike to $14/hour

The Ontario Federation of Labour says Premier Kathleen Wynne’s proposed minimum wage hike is not enough.

A rally was held at Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday calling for minimum wage to be raised to $14 an hour.

Wynne recently announced a raise in the minimum wage of 70-cents to $11 an hour.

Sid Ryan president of the Ontario Federation of Labour says those making $11 an hour live 16 per cent below the poverty line.

“We’ve locked workers into a life of poverty by keeping them at $11 an hour,” he said. “There’s half a million workers in Ontario earning minimum wage…over half of them are families trying to live on the minimum wage and end up at the food banks at the end of the month when they can’t make ends meet.”

Deena Ladd of the Worker’s Action Centre said the hike would benefit more than just families.

“When people are making decent money they’re able to take care of themselves and their families and so communities are generally more healthier,” she explained.

Ryan said they also hopes to send a message to large corporations to pay their workers a “fair wage.”

The proposed wage hike of $11 an hour takes effect June 1.

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