British Columbia Federation of Labour

British Columbia's minimum wage, already the lowest in the country, fell further behind today as New Brunswick increased its minimum wage by fifty cents to $9 an hour. New Brunswick also has scheduled increases that will see the minimum wage raised to $10 an hour by next summer.

"The New Brunswick government has acknowledged the importance of increasing the minimum wage as part of a poverty reduction strategy in their province," says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour. "Here in BC, we have some of the highest rates of poverty in Canada and a minimum wage that has been frozen for nine years."

Under the BC Liberals, the provincial minimum wage has gone from being the highest in the country to the lowest. BC's $8 an hour minimum wage and the $6 an hour "training wage" have not been increased since 2001. The Liberal government has indicated it has no plans to increase BC's minimum wage.

Inflation over the last nine years has eroded the spending power of BC's minimum wage by almost 15 percent. In BC, a majority (61 percent) of minimum wage earners are women and a majority (55 percent) are adults 20 and older.

BC's higher cost of living means minimum wage earners are even further behind their counterparts in other provinces. To match the spending power of a minimum wage earner in New Brunswick, a worker in BC would have to earn $12.62 an hour.

"The Liberals told us the minimum wage did not need to be increased when the economy was producing jobs. Now that we have eight percent unemployment and youth unemployment at 16 percent, the Liberal government tells us we can't afford to increase it," Sinclair added. "According to the BC Liberals there is never a good time to increase the minimum wage. Provincial governments across the country are facing the same economic realities and they have all decided to increase their minimum wages."

"The minimum wage in BC is a national embarrassment. The provincial government has abandoned its responsibility to help the lowest paid workers in our province," Sinclair added.

The Federation is calling for a $10 an hour minimum wage with future increases linked to annual cost of living increases.

For more information: Evan Stewart, Director of Communication (604) 430-1421.

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