I was listening to Rutherford this morning while painting in my bathroom, and they were discussing the proposed living wage policies about to be voted on in Calgary on the 9th.
At face value, it seemed like a good idea to me. Currently in some of Alberta's cities you simply can't afford housing on 'mimimum wage'. Many places that are typically low paying jobs are already offering highly inflated entry level wages in order to try to combat the worker shortages. Superstore for example has a great big window painting declaring an opening wage of 11.40/h for weekend workers, and over 13/h for night shift workers.
Some of the arguments against the notion of instituting a living wage policy however is that it then artificially drives up the rates for all other jobs above it (who's willing to take $16/h as a shop hand when they can stay clean and earn that much at Tim Hortons?), and thus it again raises the cost of housing, since the market to attain the places is so competitive sometimes.
It also works to drive up the cost of goods, thus potentially making them out of the cost reach of those earning the 'living wage'.
What are your views?
At face value, it seemed like a good idea to me. Currently in some of Alberta's cities you simply can't afford housing on 'mimimum wage'. Many places that are typically low paying jobs are already offering highly inflated entry level wages in order to try to combat the worker shortages. Superstore for example has a great big window painting declaring an opening wage of 11.40/h for weekend workers, and over 13/h for night shift workers.
Some of the arguments against the notion of instituting a living wage policy however is that it then artificially drives up the rates for all other jobs above it (who's willing to take $16/h as a shop hand when they can stay clean and earn that much at Tim Hortons?), and thus it again raises the cost of housing, since the market to attain the places is so competitive sometimes.
It also works to drive up the cost of goods, thus potentially making them out of the cost reach of those earning the 'living wage'.
What are your views?