After initially suggesting that Manitoba’s lowest-paid employees are rising on their own, Prime Minister Heather Stefanson wants to tip the scales and improve a minimum wage that is about to be the lowest in Canada.
On Friday, Stefanson said Manitoba must be competitive with other provinces in the pay their companies offer.
“While we’ve indexed our minimum wage to inflation, I think we’ve lagged a bit behind where other provinces have gone, so we want to make sure we don’t fall behind,” Stefanson told reporters after a meeting of Western prime ministers. Lecture by Regina.
Manitoba currently offers a minimum wage of $ 11.95 an hour. Under the current formula of linking wage increases to inflation, lower wages are scheduled to receive an additional 40 cents per hour, up to $ 12.35, before October 1st.
Then, however, Manitoba’s lowest hourly wage will be usurped by Saskatchewan, which temporarily ignores its own formula for indexing the minimum wage rate to inflation to reach $ 13 an hour in October 2022, and finally , $ 15 in 2024.
Legislation arrives to improve the minimum wage
The Manitoba government recently notified the legislature that it would introduce a minimum wage bill on Monday.
Earlier this month, Stefanson did not seem too concerned that his province would be forced to offer the lowest minimum wage in the country, even though the cost of living is rising.
He suggested that provincial employers, who are facing labor shortages, are voluntarily raising wages to hire workers.
“I’ve talked to several different industries where they have a hard time finding labor … it’s a supply and demand problem. Right now, I suspect there are fewer of them who actually pay the minimum wage,” he said. minister to reporters on 9 May.
Statistics Canada estimates that more than 23,000 workers were paid the minimum wage in 2021. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)
“My main concern is the shortage of manpower and making sure, through our provincial candidate program and other programs, that we can train people for the jobs that are needed in Manitoba.”
The Manitoba Labor Federation then suggested that if Stefanson’s position was right, he should have no qualms about raising the minimum wage, as few received it anyway.
When asked on Friday why he changed his position, Stefanson stressed that he has always insisted that Manitoba be competitive with other provinces.
Statistics from Canada requested by the Manitoba Federation of Labor estimate that more than 23,000 workers were paid the minimum wage in 2021. People earning less would include workers in the gig economy. whose pay may not be regulated by the government.
The union wants lower wages in Manitoba closer to a decent wage closer to $ 15 an hour.
In an interview Thursday, Labor Minister Reg Helwer said the high cost of living has stretched the purchasing power of Manitobans.
“It simply came to our notice then [with] inflationary pressures, “Helwer said, holding her mother close to any details surrounding the bill.
Helwer said there has been a lot of discussion over the past few months about the economy and the minimum wage, and that the planned bill “will address some of these issues,” although he also said Manitoba is one of the provinces. most affordable in the country.
The predictability of wage increases will continue: Helwer
The Minister of Labor, however, maintained his previous argument that Manitobans deserve the predictability of scheduled wage increases. Helwer said he is taking the policy out of the wage-setting process.
“Some provinces are continuing their predictability process; others are using a more political approach. We believe that in Manitoba, predictability is good for both work and small business management,” he said.
The Conservative government passed legislation in 2017 to index the minimum wage to the inflation rate.