British Columbia Federation of Labour

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling on the federal and provincial governments to ensure that our young people have the opportunities they need to meet the challenges we face.

The United Nations General Assembly declared August 12 "International Youth Day". This year's theme is "Sustainability: Our Challenge. Our Future."

"We are at an economic and an environmental crossroad," Sinclair added. "Our young people are the answer to both of those challenges and we need to ensure they have the opportunities they need to build a sustainable economy that works for us all," says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

Young people are having a particularly difficult time during the current economic crisis. Numbers released last week by Statistics Canada show 205,000 young people have lost their jobs since last October. Youth unemployment is now 21 percent, the highest on record.

By 2015, three out of every four new jobs will require some post-secondary education. However, in the last eight years tuition in BC has climbed 90 percent and students are graduating with massive student loan debts.

"Skyrocketing tuition is a financial barrier that is keeping more and more young people out of our colleges and universities at the exact time we need them to train for jobs in the new economy," says Sinclair. "We need to remove any barriers that are keeping our young people from getting the training they need, training that develops a skilled workforce to help our economy grow."

British Columbia also has the lowest minimum wage in the country. Frozen at $8 an hour for eight years, many young people are trapped in low-paying jobs, unable to pay for education or to establish their own independence. The Campbell government should increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour and provide for annual inflation increases.

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For more information: Summer McFadyen (604) 430-1421.