Federation of Labour head speaks out about minimum wage report
Posted Jan 11, 2023 12:25:00 PM.
Danny Cavanagh is calling on the Nova Scotia government to increase minimum wage to $15 an hour by October 2023.
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour president was a member of the Minimum Wage Review Committee, the group behind the report that annually advises the provincial government regarding adjustments to the minimum wage rate as well as the rationale behind the recommended adjustments.
Released on January 5, it proposed the province boost minimum wages 90 cents in April, another 50 cents in the fall.
The report also recommends that the minimum wage be adjusted “by a new formula (inflation plus an additional 1%)” beginning on April 1, 2025.
Cavanagh told CityNews Halifax the bump to the province's minimum wage to $13.60 per hour, which went into effect in October 2022, will do little to attract workers, compete with other provinces or adjust to the rising cost of living.
“This is concerning,” says Cavanagh about minimum wage employees. “They are under lots of undue pressures like everybody else to pay for their essentials (and) a lot of minimum wage earners have to spend $2,000 just to fill a 200 gallon oil drum and if you're making minimum wage, that doesn't leave you much at the end of the day.'
He adds many small businesses are already paying more than $15 an hour in Nova Scotia simply to compete for employees.
Nova Scotia's Labour Minister Jill Balser says her department will consult with business owners and Nova Scotians before making a decision on the report's recommendations.
