{"id":140254,"date":"2023-02-10T08:52:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T13:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=140254"},"modified":"2023-02-10T11:33:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T16:33:24","slug":"15-minimum-wage-increase-is-welcome-but-more-needs-to-be-done-halifax-workers-action-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/15-minimum-wage-increase-is-welcome-but-more-needs-to-be-done-halifax-workers-action-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"‘$15 minimum wage increase is welcome but more needs to be done’, Halifax workers action centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 3, 2023, the Nova Scotia government approved a $15 minimum wage<\/a>, which will come into effect on Oct.1, 2023, six months earlier than scheduled.<\/p>\n

The province has also agreed to adjust the minimum wage annually based on the projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) percentage, plus an additional one percent, starting on Apr. 1, 2024.<\/p>\n

The Halifax Workers\u2019 Action Centre (WAC)<\/a> is calling on the Nova Scotia government to enact a $20 minimum wage and ensure that all future increases account for inflation, plus 1%.<\/p>\n

The institute, established in 2017, offers free legal information and support to low-wage, marginalized and non-unionized workers in Nova Scotia who are facing employment issues.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Lisa Cameron is the executive director of the Halifax Workers\u2019 Action Centre.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe have to recognize the achievement of a $15 minimum wage. I started in the labour movement with a group called Fight for $15 and fairness<\/a> in 2017. And as a low-wage worker at the time, I do remember feeling like a $15 as the minimum wage was a bit of a dream. So I think for many members of the labour movement, this is a significant moment. But that being said, the cost of living has also been rising exponentially. $15 today, isn\u2019t what it was back in 2017,\u201d said Lisa Cameron, executive director of the Halifax Workers\u2019 Action Centre.<\/p>\n

According to the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives, a living wage is $23.50 per hour<\/a> in Halifax, over $8 more than the approved minimum wage.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make ends meet in Halifax, the Halifax workers Action Centre alongside Justice for Workers<\/a> is calling on the government to enact a $20 minimum wage, as well as ensure that all future increases to the provincial minimum wage account for inflation plus 1%. And that\u2019s because we need to see all workers at least earning a living wage,\u201d said Cameron.<\/p>\n

Cameron said nearly 40 per cent of the workers at WAC are earning less than $30,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is nowhere near what it costs to afford your basic necessities. We\u2019re dealing with a group population that is quite vulnerable, and really facing the impacts of poverty. So our goal is to educate workers about their rights and to ultimately organize for positive change and push for policy improvements,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The Health Workers Action Centre has not received any response from the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a fine line of both recognizing the achievement and seeing it as somewhat of a partial victory. I hope that these conversations about increasing the minimum wage substantially will continue,\u201d said Cameron.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 3, 2023, the Nova Scotia government approved a $15 minimum wage, which will come into effect on Oct.1, 2023, six months earlier than scheduled. The province has also agreed to adjust the minimum wage annually based on the projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) percentage, plus an additional one percent, starting on Apr. 1,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":140265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[217,57,225],"tags":[23336,23335,23330,23338,23331,18667,283,3495,23340,23339,18188,961,23333,23332,20321,13689,23334,4640,23337,14147],"radio":[13058],"origine":[274,300,278],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140254"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140366,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140254\/revisions\/140366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140254"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=140254"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=140254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}