From CUPE's Annual Convention:

[petros]

Not at all. Nobody lost jobs, there were no hiring freezes. The increase happened in the midst of an ongoing labour shortage. It attracted a lot of people to the province. It has taken BC 3 years to catch up and they still fall short by 2 bits. BC is still $2.25 short if you are working in hospitality. They say tips can pick up the slack for those workers which is total bull****.

 

[Machjo]

Not at all. Nobody lost jobs, there were no hiring freezes. The increase happened in the midst of an ongoing labour shortage. It attracted a lot of people to the province. It has taken BC 3 years to catch up and they still fall short by 2 bits. BC is still $2.25 short if you are working in hospitality. They say tips can pick up the slack for those workers which is total bull****.

The highlighted part answers it. So if there was already a labour shortage, then yes the minimum wage increase could be handled. Though codetermination legislation would have achieved the same thing.

Also, I'd like to know if there were in fact labour shortages, how many actually experienced a wage increase with the raise in the minimum wage, or were more people already earning above that?

 

[Liberalman]

If the second link (job creation) is intended to be a refutation of the first link (income equality), I think you are missing the point.

While growth in jobs often helps prosperity across all levels, it does nothing to address income inequality. The disabled, the unemployable, and senior citizens benefit very little from this, while seeing basic services increasingly assaulted.

Now, income equality should not be a goal. Instead, the goal should be to raise the minimum standard of living. The amount that the top ten percent makes should be irrelevant to that conversation.

To achieve that a two-tiered approach is needed.

Firstly, create a society and economy that allows the majority of Canadians to succeed independently of government.
Secondly, for those that fall through the cracks, build a sustainable and respectful safety net that ensures all Canadians have their basic needs met with dignity, while not being so generous as to allow a level of comfort that removes incentive to look for work.

Formal education should not be a factor in determining a worker's value.

 

[petros]

The highlighted part answers it. So if there was already a labour shortage, then yes the minimum wage increase could be handled. Though codetermination legislation would have achieved the same thing.

Also, I'd like to know if there were in fact labour shortages, how many actually experienced a wage increase with the raise in the minimum wage, or were more people already earning above that?

These days employers here have to pay above minimum to attract employees. Even McDonals is paying $12an hour.

 

[Machjo]

These days employers here have to pay above minimum to attract employees. Even McDonals is paying $12an hour.

Bingo! So they were paying above minimum wage anyway, thus making the minimum wage redundant. Had that not been the case, it would have priced people out of the market. That was my point, that either the minimum wage fals below the equilibrium rate, in which case it's redundant, or if it's higher than the equilibrium rate, it prices unskilled workers out of the market. It sounds from what you're describing that it was the former. So either way, either it's redundant or harmful. So, when is it ever beneficial?