Earlier this month it was announced that B.C. would be raising the minimum wage by 20 cents, increasing the total figure to $10.45 per hour. The hike will take effect in September and it is the first change in three years.
This minor increase seems to me more like a slap in the face than a benefit to minimum wage workers. As the cost of living goes up and inflation continues, minimum wage seems to be stagnating at around $10 per hour, increasing only ever so slightly every few years.
With the cost of living in the Elk Valley being so high, it doesn’t seem feasible that someone working at minimum wage, as many recent high school, university and college graduates are, can survive without some sort of subsidized income. With high rent costs and grocery prices in the Elk Valley, it would be a hardship for anyone living on minimum wage to pay for basic necessities. If you add on debt from college or university, $10.45 per hour just wouldn’t cut it. Unfortunately, few university or college grads get their dream job right after graduation. The standards have changed and entry-level jobs for many fields often require experience. But how can you get that experience without first getting an entry-level position?
After completing my four-year undergraduate degree in Ontario, the majority of us who graduated from an arts program were forced to enter the workforce in a minimum wage service position. The goal was to try and land a job that paid more than minimum wage, but that can, at times, be unfeasible.
Many recent graduates have no choice but to move back in with their parents after graduating. That freedom you had in university or college once again disappears. But there aren’t very many options when minimum wage is so low and it takes months, if not years, to find an entry-level position that you actually qualify for.
The recent hike in minimum wage for me seems like a joke. The minimum wage in B.C. is 55 cents less an hour than it is in Ontario, where the cost of living is much lower.
The B.C. Federation of Labour will be campaigning throughout March to increase the province’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. Although $15 per hour may seem a bit excessive, I think it’s important that workers in B.C. fight for their rights to earn a comfortable living.
After all, earning an annual income of less than $20,000 puts minimum wage workers below the poverty line.