Summation of Wynne's Minimum Wage Announcement
- Thread starter Murphy
- Start date
Minimum wage hike will mean spike in unemployment: Study
By Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2017 08:02 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 19, 2017 08:11 AM EDT
TORONTO - The Ontario government’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2019 — a whopping 32% increase from where it currently sits at $11.40 — could lead to more unemployment for younger and less skilled workers, particularly outside Toronto.
This according to a new study released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute.
“Ontario is going into uncharted waters right now,” explained the study’s co-author Ben Eisen, director of the institute’s Ontario Prosperity Initiative. “With a minimum wage that’s much higher relative to its median wage ($22.12), which is the average amount earned by the typical person working in the economy, and that is the case in any other jurisdiction in Canada. So it’s a big change in policy that’s creating real risks in terms of disemployment effects.”
Eisen says the effect will be even worse outside of Toronto in places like London, Windsor-Sarnia, Stratford-Bruce Peninsula, Niagara Peninsula, and Kingston-Pembroke, which has “substantially lower average wages.”
The study found that when the minimum wage is low, relative to the average wage (in 2017 in Toronto it was $30.72), there is a small, even negligible effect on job loss.
But when the minimum wage passes 45% of the average wage, the negative economic impact for younger, lower-skilled workers grows more severe.
Overall for Ontario, a $15-an-hour minimum wage will equal 55% of the average wage, according to the study.
As an alternative, Eisen offers: “The most important thing that governments can do is to work to ensure that the conditions are right for economic growth and job creation. Where you have a competitive environment that’s attractive for investment, attractive for job creation, attractive for entrepreneurship, that helps create upward pressure on wages through the market. That’s step one.”
Ontario’s current minimum wage puts it second among the top provinces in Canada, with Alberta leading the way at $12.20 an hour. The lowest is Saskatchewan at $10.72 an hour.
However, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said increases to the minimum wage are good for the economy, citing the Liberal government has boosted the minimum wage by 70% since 2003, and Ontario currently has its lowest unemployment rate in more than a decade.
“Many leading economists share this belief,” Flynn said in a statement. “Studies written over the past number of years – including work done by the OECD, the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – lay out the long-term benefits of higher wages for low-income workers, as well as the economic benefits that come with alleviating this problem.”
Flynn added that the Ontario Liberals will not “back down from this commitment.”
THREE FAST POINTS
The rapid 32% increase of Ontario’s minimum wage to $15 per hour in less than 18 months could reduce employment opportunities for young and less skilled workers.
If the increase goes through, the ratio of Ontario’s minimum-to-median wage will be the highest in Canada and much higher than nearby and competing states in the U.S.
Major negative employment effects would be greater in Ontario’s economically weaker regions where market wage levels are much lower than in Toronto.
jstevenson@postmedia.com
Minimum wage hike will mean spike in unemployment: Study | Ontario | News | Toro
By Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2017 08:02 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 19, 2017 08:11 AM EDT
TORONTO - The Ontario government’s plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2019 — a whopping 32% increase from where it currently sits at $11.40 — could lead to more unemployment for younger and less skilled workers, particularly outside Toronto.
This according to a new study released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute.
“Ontario is going into uncharted waters right now,” explained the study’s co-author Ben Eisen, director of the institute’s Ontario Prosperity Initiative. “With a minimum wage that’s much higher relative to its median wage ($22.12), which is the average amount earned by the typical person working in the economy, and that is the case in any other jurisdiction in Canada. So it’s a big change in policy that’s creating real risks in terms of disemployment effects.”
Eisen says the effect will be even worse outside of Toronto in places like London, Windsor-Sarnia, Stratford-Bruce Peninsula, Niagara Peninsula, and Kingston-Pembroke, which has “substantially lower average wages.”
The study found that when the minimum wage is low, relative to the average wage (in 2017 in Toronto it was $30.72), there is a small, even negligible effect on job loss.
But when the minimum wage passes 45% of the average wage, the negative economic impact for younger, lower-skilled workers grows more severe.
Overall for Ontario, a $15-an-hour minimum wage will equal 55% of the average wage, according to the study.
As an alternative, Eisen offers: “The most important thing that governments can do is to work to ensure that the conditions are right for economic growth and job creation. Where you have a competitive environment that’s attractive for investment, attractive for job creation, attractive for entrepreneurship, that helps create upward pressure on wages through the market. That’s step one.”
Ontario’s current minimum wage puts it second among the top provinces in Canada, with Alberta leading the way at $12.20 an hour. The lowest is Saskatchewan at $10.72 an hour.
However, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said increases to the minimum wage are good for the economy, citing the Liberal government has boosted the minimum wage by 70% since 2003, and Ontario currently has its lowest unemployment rate in more than a decade.
“Many leading economists share this belief,” Flynn said in a statement. “Studies written over the past number of years – including work done by the OECD, the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – lay out the long-term benefits of higher wages for low-income workers, as well as the economic benefits that come with alleviating this problem.”
Flynn added that the Ontario Liberals will not “back down from this commitment.”
THREE FAST POINTS
The rapid 32% increase of Ontario’s minimum wage to $15 per hour in less than 18 months could reduce employment opportunities for young and less skilled workers.
If the increase goes through, the ratio of Ontario’s minimum-to-median wage will be the highest in Canada and much higher than nearby and competing states in the U.S.
Major negative employment effects would be greater in Ontario’s economically weaker regions where market wage levels are much lower than in Toronto.
jstevenson@postmedia.com
Minimum wage hike will mean spike in unemployment: Study | Ontario | News | Toro
It's the Fraser Institute. It is a pro-big business organization funded by corporate Canada. Its rants are usually based on little or no evidence.
Bullshit. Morons seem to think that the only wages that will go up is the minimum wage. When you crank up the minimum wage by 24% over such a short period of time you pretty much have to increase other wages as well. If you currently have people already being paid $15-$16/hr because of the time they've put in, or because they've had extra training, or because they have greater responsibilities, they won't be very happy when they're getting the same pay rate as the lower level employees.
Within a large part of the retail sector for instance, dept managers only get paid a few dollars an hour more than the minimum wage. I'm not talking about store managers but the actual dept managers. Raise the minimum wage and you have to raise the dept managers wages as well. Cooks in restaurants won't be happy when dishwashers end up making more than they do. Right now in Ontario the average salary for a restaurant cook is $13.43/hr.
When you apply minimum wage increases, it's better to do it incrementally. Otherwise when you do something stupid like crank them up by 24% in one shot, you affect the wages of a lot more than just those making the minimum wage, which will be difficult for many small businesses to handle.
Couple that with Trudeau's attack on small business and small business in Ontario will pretty much dry up and blow away.
Sobeys said they will be raising the price of groceries. Now these new taxpayers are in the same place they started.
A $15 minimum wage will slaughter so many small businesses especially shops. This premier is totally incompetent and out of touch with her small business constituency. We need something like a recall that got rid of Gray Davis in California
Big business supports the Pembina Institute as well.... Funny how their opinions are rarely challenged on that basis by the usual suspects
No different than the carbon tax... All the mental midgets think that they are really sticking it to da Man on that to
I've heard all that before. And yet in places where the minimum wage has actually been increased there is no evidence of a negative impact. That is probably due to the fact that the total increase in business costs is estimated to be less than 10%. Not only that but every business is affected in the same way, resulting in no advantage for anyone. And your restaurant cook example seems rather pointless given that they will be one of those receiving an increase. And in Alberta it is being done incrementally and apparently that is the case in Ontario as well if 2019 is the intended date of the final raise.
If businesses can't afford to pay a living wage they can't afford the cost of business. I'm well above $15 so the raise won't affect me all that much.
Quite a few places already had self checkouts. I first noticed them around 2011 which was years before this announcement. These bots were coming either way. People also tend to forget that there still needs to be people behind the machine both for maintenance and to prepare whatever the order is. The bots may be cheaper but if you totally eliminated the people around them the business would lose a lot of money to theft. It's pretty easy to get around those things if you want to and if no ones looking. I've never done it but I've seen it happen.
Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realsp...-self-service-kiosks-nationwide/#534aadd4fbc6
That's ROBOTS for those of you that learned to read in school
It used to be the leftii would just force everyone down to labor camp payscale
now they got bots that can work cheaper
Quite a few places already had self checkouts. I first noticed them around 2011 which was years before this announcement. These bots were coming either way. People also tend to forget that there still needs to be people behind the machine both for maintenance and to prepare whatever the order is. The bots may be cheaper but if you totally eliminated the people around them the business would lose a lot of money to theft. It's pretty easy to get around those things if you want to and if no ones looking. I've never done it but I've seen it happen.
Not pointless at all. Minimum wage is $11.40/hr. The average wage for a restaurant cook is $13.43/hr. Are the cooks simply going to be bumped up to $15/hr? Do you understand the problem as I stated it? Why should a dish washer be paid the same as a cook?
31.5% in 12 months is not incremental. First off, in Oct of this year it will go up a whole 20 cents/hr.
Jan.1 2018 the rate will increase to $14/hr followed by another $1/hr increase 12 months later. If that's your definition of "incremental", you sure have a funny way of defining it.
Ontario's Financial Accountability Office is warning that a jump this large, this fast will lead to at least 50,000 job losses which will be concentrated among teens and young adults.
The FAO also estimates that only 27 per cent of the total gain in labour income from the higher minimum wage would be expected to benefit low-income families, with the remainder of the gain going to families who are already above the low-income threshold.
Plus, in your second sentence you missed a very important factor. Did those places also have a federal govt deciding it's time to goon small business owners? This is a blatant two pronged attack on the sector that's primarily responsible for driving the economy. You also fail to mention those "places" are just cities, not a full province with widely diverse labour markets. Seattle for example is a single labour market. Ontario is a HUGE province with labour markets ranging from the mega-city that is Toronto to the small, northern communities and rural areas.
Sure, corporations like McDonalds could probably easily deal with the increase, or they could simply say "f*ck it" and go fully automated.
Meanwhile, John Doe who put his blood, sweat, and money into a small business will have pretty much no good options. Pay the increase to all his employees while driving his prices up or taking a hit to his profit margin. Or he can choose to reduce the number of employees or ultimately, he could just say "f*ck it" and shut it down entirely.
That 31.5% jump in wages also means a move to a higher tax bracket for at source deductions which translates into more tax dollars in the provincial coffers for the Libtards to piss away on nothing as usual. Presuming of course their minimum wage legislation goes according to plan.
The Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis raised the possibility that 185,000 low wage jobs in Ontario are at risk and could disappear over the next two years.
I guess we'll see how this starts to play out in a little over three months. I genuinely hope I'm wrong but I have a bad feeling about this.
What the f**k are you talking about. Have you not noticed the price of a hamburger has risen from 35 cents to $10? Or the price of a quart of milk has gone from 14 cents to $1.50?
"Well the price of meat has just gone up and your old lady has just gone down." -Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris.
Look, I'm not arguing against raising the minimum wage but the fact is, Ontario is in uncharted waters here raising it this much this quickly. No sovereign or sub-sovereign state has ever increased minimum wage this much in such a short period of time that I'm aware of. At least BC is doing it over 4 years instead of 12 months.
Bar's comparing the effects on a single labour market (a city) with a multiple labour market (a province or country) is disingenuous.
OK, well, that's a good thing, right? They made a bold move, apparently agreed to by a majority of the local population, and if they're right, the boldness of the people and the pols is rewarded, and if they're wrong, they're f*cked.
Time will tell, for the tiny fraction of the population that bases their politics on facts. Which, in my opinion, includes you.
If you are earning $15 an hour you likely have to be pulling in $30 for the employer and that's over and above overhead. Can you do that at A & W?
Grocery chain Metro cutting 280 jobs as part of modernization
The Canadian Press
First posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 10:51 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 10:53 AM EDT
Grocery store chain Metro Inc. says it will eliminate about 280 jobs starting in 2021 as part of a $400-million overhaul of its Ontario distribution network.
The company says the move to modernize and automate its network will mean the loss of about 180 full-time and 100 part-time positions.
The announcement follows comments by Metro in August that it would study automation as it looked to cut costs in the face of the Ontario government’s plan to raise the minimum wage next year.
Metro has six distribution centres in Ontario including four in Toronto and two in Ottawa that employ a total of more than 1,500 workers.
It says its existing distribution network in Toronto no longer meets the needs of its business.
The company plans to modernize the operations in Toronto between 2018 and 2023 with the building of a new fresh distribution facility and a new frozen distribution centre.
“This investment will enable Metro to continue its growth and expansion in the Ontario market,” Metro chief executive Eric La Fleche said in a statement.
“With a new and modernized supply chain infrastructure, we will be even more responsive to the needs of our customers.”
Grocery chain Metro cutting 280 jobs as part of modernization | Ontario | News |
The Canadian Press
First posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 10:51 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 10:53 AM EDT
Grocery store chain Metro Inc. says it will eliminate about 280 jobs starting in 2021 as part of a $400-million overhaul of its Ontario distribution network.
The company says the move to modernize and automate its network will mean the loss of about 180 full-time and 100 part-time positions.
The announcement follows comments by Metro in August that it would study automation as it looked to cut costs in the face of the Ontario government’s plan to raise the minimum wage next year.
Metro has six distribution centres in Ontario including four in Toronto and two in Ottawa that employ a total of more than 1,500 workers.
It says its existing distribution network in Toronto no longer meets the needs of its business.
The company plans to modernize the operations in Toronto between 2018 and 2023 with the building of a new fresh distribution facility and a new frozen distribution centre.
“This investment will enable Metro to continue its growth and expansion in the Ontario market,” Metro chief executive Eric La Fleche said in a statement.
“With a new and modernized supply chain infrastructure, we will be even more responsive to the needs of our customers.”
Grocery chain Metro cutting 280 jobs as part of modernization | Ontario | News |