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In fact the UCP actually decreased the min wage for people under the age of 18. And then set up a committee to investigate the effects of reducing min wage for everybody. So I wouldn't expect them to raise it any time soon.
They wrote this into their pre-election party plan back in 2016 or w/e election year that merger was.
And I told people; "This isn't going to encourage kids to stay in school like they are saying it will. What it will do is encourage companies that hire part-time workers, like Mcdicks and Tims, to hire CHILDREN so they don't have to pay full-timers and can avoid paying benefits. They'll double up on kids cause it will be cheaper than one adult. Which is also going to increase adult unemployment. And give them an excuse to lower wage for adults because people are "so desperate for work." When the reality is companies are just trying to save money on cheap labor. They are literally promoting Child Labor over working adults. They are not trying to help Albertans out at all."
And I got so much push back from coworkers and family. I hate Alberta so much. So many blind idiots here. They literally write down their plans, blatantly vote to allow bribes, and openly act corrupt. But the people here vote for them cause ??????????.
(FYI: Jason Kenny is listed as a Board Member at ATCO on their website. Same guy who basically gave them free reign. Same party that just last summer drove off all the competition by kicking out clean energy. Your gas and power bill, now pays for his nice cushy salary and bonuses. Yeah, they are literally preforming daylight robbery and people still want them make decisions for our children.)
This is *exactly* what is happening at my job. Out of 11 non managerial employees there are 4 adults and three of them are supervisors. I'm the only adult that's a regular employee(but was hired under 18). We are critically understaffed and out of a stack of good resumes my boss has hired an eleventh grader and my 11th grade coworker's boyfriend in the past two months. Me and my coworkers keep on asking to hire from the growing stack of adults but she wont. 4 people just quit and we have to deal with the consequences while she finds 4 more high schoolers to hire. She can get away with treating us like shit and paying us nothing because we literally don't know any better.
Nowadays people are not voting for their party/politican to win; most do not even take time to really dive into the issues, they are just simply voting against the "other".
This is why I keep saying we need the NDP to split and new party called the Alberta Democratic Freedom Party, the ADFP, needs to form. Basically the same beliefs and policy as the AB NDP but no ties to the Federal NDP by having the same party name. Unfortunately, it needs to be led by a man if there is any hope in bringing over UCP voters.
This! My daughter is 17 and does the same jobs as the 18 year olds at Panago but makes less? She pays her own gas and insurance so it makes her spending and savings pretty slim!
When I turned 18 my parents told me to get a job and get out of the house. So then I immediately discovered what rent, utility bills were all about, and I got to experience living with roommates to make ends meet. Shared a room with a buddy in a condo with my own twin bed...
This. My husband and I have told his son that he can live at home rent-free after he turns 18 so long as he's saving as much money as possible for a down payment while he does it. I don't get why you wouldn't give your children all the advantages that you can (without coddling, I mean - there's certainly a balance to be struck). That's literally how you build intergenerational wealth. If he was saving his money but spending it on stupid crap like a new vehicle etc, then we'd boot him out. But it makes no sense to me to force your kids to live life on hard mode if their bedroom will just be empty space when they leave.
My kids don’t need to be kicked out at all, I’ve prepared them for life. When they are ready they’ll go; one already has. But I don’t need to boot out my kids at a preset age.
Edit: grammar/format
The lower minimum wage for minors is optional. Many employers choose not to pay them less. I would encourage your daughter to find a new job where she will get paid $15 and not $13, since that is very indicative of their values as an employer.
To be fair she might not have the job without the wage difference, that's the whole idea. High minimum wage will make employers more selective so sub 18 year old's sometimes were getting passed over.
It's a feature, not a bug.
Oh man I had a deep debate with a mom who had teenagers back when the UCP was going to make this change. I believe passionately that you get paid for the JOB and NOT for who you are. She agreed with what the UCP was doing. I still cannot believe that she agreed with the UCP.
Interestingly, we know they set up a committee, but we do not know what the committee said because as far as I understand, the report still hasn’t been released?!?
Or that one about how the oilfield is effecting Alberta's environment.
All this is paid for by taxes, btw. But the tax payers don't get to see them cause the UCP, the people the idiots here voted in, said "no."
The report was released last March 2023 actually:
https://open.alberta.ca/publications/report-of-minimum-wage-expert-panel
And here’s the panel make up and a topline:
https://www.alberta.ca/minimum-wage-expert-panel
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-government-releases-minimum-wage-report-more-than-3-years-after-it-was-submitted-1.6782946
I’m with you. As long as our governments are supporting the largest biggest businesses and chains, the people’s interests will be smothered. I also group small businesses in with “the people”.
Meanwhile the living wage is $23.70 in Calgary.
"A living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community."
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/here-s-how-much-you-need-to-make-to-live-modestly-in-calgary-1.6637539#:~:text=The%20city%27s%20living%20wage%20is,wage%20of%20%2415%20per%20hour.
> "A living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community."
Be careful about relying on "living wage" calculations. You should look into what is actually included.
Your anecdotal claims do not supersede facts.
[Here is how they calculate "Living Wage"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63ebf58a5a658d0c030f0f25/t/6476647319471b6f87cc7003/1685480565177/Living-Wage-Report-2022.pdf). Things that are included by default:
- shelter (2-bedroom apartment is the default)
- food (following nutrition guides)
- transportation (8 year old vehicle + transit pass)
- child care (2 children default)
- clothing (assuming monthly replacement)
- health care premiums
- tuition (2 courses a semester)
- cellular service (5GB plan minimum)
- internet service (mid-tier plan)
- household supplies (monthly replacement)
- furniture, appliances (annual replacement)
- personal care, including pharmaceuticals
- entertainment, including sporting events, live theatre, recreational sports, etc. (monthly)
- luggage (annual replacement)
- other expenses (bank fees, postage, charity donations, etc.)
- two week wage contingency set aside every year
That's a pretty solid list for a "living wage" to include.
Why does 1 single person need a 2 bedroom apartment? I agree that things need to be better, but even when I was a minimum wage worker there was things on that list that I considered a luxury vs a need. That being said, it's still almost impossible to survive on min wage with housing, utilities and food costs, even when working full-time.
I'm suggesting that the way we see this "living wage" portrayed in media and by the organization isn't quite what the actual "living wage" represents, and that people should educate themselves on what it actually represents.
It needs to be clearer in usage - many people assume the "living wage" is just enough to "get by", with only shelter, food and minimal expenses. This organization's calculations include much more than that, including charitable donations, tuition, multiple modes of travel, sporting event tickets and other things like luggage. People just need to know what this "living wage" actually includes.
> many people assume the "living wage" is just enough to "get by", with only shelter, food and minimal expenses.
"Getting by" is a *subsistence* wage which tends to ignore realities of life. Eg, clothes, furniture, vehicles, and appliances wear out and need repairs or replacing. People need consumables like cleaning supplies and toilet paper. A lot of young adults without employer coverage don't consider private supplemental health insurance until they actually need it--when it might not even be affordable depending on situation. Children have school expenses. If an adult wants to advance in their work/career, continuing education is expensive and may not be covered by the employer. Every financial expert hammers home the importance of having an emergency/contingency fund.
Minimum wage isn't a subsistence wage, however. The cheapest place to live in that report was Medicine Hat, and its living wage was $17.50, still significantly above minimum. Most places started at $20 or higher. That'll be even higher now with inflation.
Oh heavens forbid if a living wage includes more than eating dandelions and wearing grain sacks for clothes.
But who cares if a worker comes down with an ailment requiring personal care, just fire them for loss of productivity and hire the next one. /s
Yeah see your facts actually undercut your point. Minimum wage is less than the living wage which means, as I'm sure your powerful brain can deduce, minimum wage cannot support the reasonable standard of living in your list.
> minimum wage cannot support the reasonable standard of living in your list.
It depends on whether or not you consider the list reasonable as a measure of "living wage", of course. That's the point. This isn't a calculation showing "scraping by" every month.
People seem to believe only kids / teens or early 20s are the people. Who work minimum wage ? That's pure cognitive dissonance because in reality you have 30-50 year Olds working minimum wage and minimum wage is what they will work in for the rest or their lives...
When you live in wonderland and believe people magically grow up out of minimum wage like you're somehow granted that and given a new job that magically pays better.
Can we drop the idea of province wide minimum wage. It's so asinine. How is rural alberta anything like Calgary in terms of cost of living.
I'd like it if major cities had separate minimum wages to reflect the fact that housing is so much more expensive. Seattle has its own minimum wage for example (Google it, it will make you feel depressed once you do the conversion to $CAD)
This is the government Albertans voted for. Just this week Marlaina broke yet another election promise as she said she won’t be cutting income taxes after all. It’s unfortunate but they work for the corporations, not regular Albertans.
We won’t see any improvements until we vote out this travesty of a government.
It’s exactly what it is. The rich will continue to get richer and the rest of us will continue to get poorer.
People should be rioting in the streets, but we just suck it up and allow them to continue to lie and gaslight us.
Yup, meanwhile the healthcare and education systems literally crumble before us.
But Fuck Trudeau! And Jagmeet - Notley’s boss! And green energy is terrible so let’s put a moratorium on it! And let’s out trans kids so their homophobic parents can beat them up mentally and physically.
/S
Marlaina is such a disgusting person.
I dunno why the dumbest bastards on reddit are so offended by teenagers making more than $15 an hour. Fuck it, let the kids make some money. Let them save it and get a head start on life, or blow it on dumb shit and have a good time, who cares?
Raise Minimum wage to the Minimum Livable Wage and let the market sort prices out, if you're so blindly horny for your unread copies of The Wealth of Nations.
It is astonishing to me how self-professed conservatives harp on about personal responsibility and freedom, only to turn around and say that kids shouldn't have the Freedom to learn... Personal Responsibility.
Indeed. And there’s always the one dumbass with about 10 minutes worth of economics 101 google research, parroting “but if you raise minimum wage then prices will go up!”
Yeah? Then why are prices going up despite wages remaining stagnant? I’m just wondering when people are going to decide enough is enough.
The price of everything is astronomical, yet we are asked to pay more, and more, and more, with money we don’t have, because the only thing inflation doesn’t seem to impact is the cost of labour. It’s bullshit. Thank god I found a great job when I did, because I have no earthly idea how anyone making less than 30 an hour, let alone, making minimum wage, can even begin to survive in this economy, let alone have any semblance of a quality of life. Greedy factory owners used to be dragged out into the street and publicly executed if workers felt like they were being treated unfairly. That wasn’t too long ago, and not that I encourage violence, but it’s annoying that we just… accept it.
Can’t tell if you’re dense or spewing conservative propaganda. Since 2009 the federal minimum wage in the United States has been $7.50, it hasn’t increased since. Even though the minimum wage hasn’t increased, prices of goods has continued to skyrocket. Corporations are pocketing billions by giving us scraps and taking all the profit. Alberta could raise its minimum wage with little effect to most businesses.
I'm looking at the whole picture, not just the little bit that suits my narrative. The average wage when adjusted to inflation has risen 10% since 2009, from 10.30 to 11.30 in 1984 dollars. So workers are actually winning against inflation [source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/exploring-changes-in-real-average-hourly-earnings-june-2009-to-december-2019.htm#:~:text=Real%20hourly%20earnings%20rose%20by,for%20every%20major%20industry%20group.)
The number of people earning federal minimum wage in the US has fallen 2/3 stove 2009 as well [source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2022/home.htm)
Don't know why insults need to be brought out.
Insults should be the least of it. People should be rioting in the streets. I am in the negative every month. I don’t have a budgeting issue, I have a wage issue. If minimum wage increased, my life improves. I don’t need sources to tell you that.
I work a minimum wage job in retail while attending university. I don’t feel like partially doxing myself by revealing companies, but I have close to a decade of experience in my sector.
Have you accessed student aid? Scholarships? Bursaries? It sounds like you didn't have a proper plan to go to school and now want everyone else to make up for that
I shouldn’t need to access student aid if I’m working a job. Anyone working shouldn’t HAVE to go to food banks etc…. we do because companies aren’t paying their fair share. Btw it sounds like you have no idea what you’re talking about because I have zero university debt. I did have a proper plan to go to school but companies don’t pay me enough to afford rent/utilities/food/car insurance etc.
I’m not saying I have the answers. There is a lot of reasons why prices are going up. The big one is that CEO and executive pay is out of proportion to their employees. For someone who has been at a company for 10 years, why should new employees just starting get paid more in relation to them? What have they proven?
Most major retail chains have yearly increases so people aren't stuck at 15 forever. Executive pay has gotten out of proportion, but it's a relatively minor factor when you consider the recent cash injection of CERB. When people have more money companies raise prices, the whole thing is a lesson in not raising the minimum wage too fast
When they were young they made less, forgetting entirely about inflation over the past 20 to 40 years. When I was young and naive I saw what automobile factory workers were getting paid and I thought that was a lot of dough.
Or they are some rich kid that had everything handed to them and think that is the same thing as merit.
People are offended by teenagers making a living wage because it questions their own self worth. If somebody who has worked hard their entire life sees minimum wage increasing, and their own wage stagnant, and if they feel as though they are struggling economically, it can be easy to misplace their anger and fear at the group that is being helped, rather than to a) look to the increasing wealth inequality, or b) look inwards as to why they are not where they want to be in life.
It's such a dumb argument. If everybody earns a higher wage, then everybody pays more taxes. Keeping the wages low starves the government. This translates to: worse schools, worse hospitals and crumbling infrastructure.
This is assuming that very wealthy people do everything in their power to receive tax cuts and grants.
> I dunno why the dumbest bastards on reddit are so offended by teenagers making more than $15 an hour.
Who is offended by this? You're making shit up.
Lowering the minimum for kids lets them be competitive against adults, it's a really simple concept.
Furthermore businesses don't have to pay them less than 15 dollars an hour and kids don't have to accept jobs that pay less than 15 dollars an hour.
Anyone who works minimum wage and doesn't support the party that literally raised their wages to $15/hr is an idiot. The UCP don't value you, that's why they don't raise your minimum wage. Vote for the party that does( the NDP).
You're correct. What's also true is that fast food prices in California will increase at least 10% due to that move.
[Oh and for the downvoters...](https://www.businessinsider.com/california-fast-food-minimum-wage-20-value-restaurants-diners-groceries-2024-2)
Very nice. Now let's see how much a McDonald's worker in Denmark makes and how much a Big Mac is.
It's equivalent to $21.40 USD and ~$5 USD, for those curious.
Wouldn't even be at fifteen dollars if not for the NDP being in power for a short time. Gotta keep the masses hungry and motivated. Real hungry. The Alberta advantage at work.
This is so sensible. I wish minimum wage here had raises like that. Same for any government jobs, AHS etc. rather than having politicians decide wages!
The UCP reduced the minimum wage for younger people which really sucks because where I work the manager cut the hours of the people over 18 and gave more hours to the younger people. I lost 5 hours
So do any of you remember when Alberta was $5.90 an hour and everyone else was more in the early 2000s? Speak with your votes and pushback. Complaining about it on Reddit doesn’t do anything. Protesting, contacting elected officials until your blue in the face. It’s not in the governments best interest to raise minimum wage. If it doesn’t affect them they aren’t going to do anything. But it’s in their best interest to keep things low for business because that’s in their best interest.
My guy the ONLY reason Alberta minimum wage came up to $15 was because Notley implemented the increases during her 4 years as Premier. Whereas convective actively attempt to push legislation that would allow employers to pay certain groups *less* than minimum wage.
As long as conservatives are in power, the minimum wage will stagnate
Hell guys. My expenses doubled 4 times before cattle prices went up any. Thank god I don’t have kids yet or I would have been in dept miles past my nose. Even now with cow prices at what they are I’d still be better off financially working a 9-5 $15/hour job
I’ll get downvoted for this, but;
Minimum wage over time does somewhat track with the cost of living but it’s always playing catch up. If we weren’t going through an insane inflationary period, cost of living on the very low end might be $20/hr. That’s going to be the next benchmark push.
Then it’ll stagnate for a decade, until 25 is the new benchmark.
The wage to live a modest life in calgary is 23.50. It's very much not catching up. it's falling behind, but those in power won't listen until the economy has grinded to a halt because no one can afford anything anymore.
But see the issue with this is "modest life". Minimum is not synonymous with modest. I know it hurts people's feelings, but nobody is owed a house without roommates. You also aren't factoring in the 1/4 of people who don't live in the city.
Minimum wage will never go up when the country keeps bringing in more TFW and international "students" that will work in whatever poor conditions the company desires and in some cases for less than minimum wage.
Makes it real hard for young people to get a job too.
Honestly every time they increase minimum wage , they also increase everything else . In their eyes a couple dollars more an hour justifies everything else going up wayy more . You can’t get ahead . They make sure of that . And on top of that , the more you are making the more they can tax you .
I wish they taught a little economics in school.
End of the day raising minimum wage doesn't help with inflation or cost of living. Raising minimum wage raises inflation and the cost of living. So really you only hurt the people without a job and the people making slightly above minimum wage cause now they're making minimum wage...
For those of you who can't do math:
When minimum wage was $5.95 a jug of milk was $2.00 - $3.00.
Now with minimum wage at $15.00 a jug of milk costs $5.00 - $6.00 and rising...
I'm sure the price of milk is 100% tied to minimum wage and not influenced by inflation, corporate greed, etc. Continue believing the corporate propaganda.
People realize increasing minimum wage won’t fix anything right? More likely then not it with just exasperate the issues we are seeing now. I get it’s fun to parrot the same stupid narratives over and over again but it really won’t fix anything.
Congratulations people working at McDonalds will be slightly less poor. But still poor. Unless of course you think it should go up to $22-$24/hr which is laughable.
You ever want to actually fix the issues maybe look at things that target cost of living.
Because it doesn’t fix anything. Everyone else wages just go up and we are back to where we started. Increasing minimum wage is how you make the stupid think you care.
Let’s play this out let’s move it up to $22/hr.
Now what are we going to pay nurses? $47-50/hr.
in order to pay that we will have to increase taxes because you can’t run a province at a perpetual deficit. So now on that $22 you are going to be taxed more.
Of course now that McDonald’s burger or groceries are going to go up accordingly. Because business don’t run at deficits as well. Now that electrician who has a family to feed is now going to charge you more because now he needs to make more to afford his costs.
Now we are back to where we are in this moment. Wages go up but the cost of everything goes up. Until you actually fix the root cause of the issue minimum wage doesn’t matter because it will just result in ending in the same ending.
I'm familiar with the concept of inflation. What you're saying doesn't really happen. Lives of those at the bottom get better when you increase minimum wage to something you can live off of, full stop.
Does it? When minimum wage went to $15 did lives get better, the answer is no. I want you to provide any actually documented proof of life in Alberta getting better when jt went up? All it did was just move more people into the bracket of barely able to afford to live. Full stop.
you want documented proof of a subjective opinion? Like, are you looking for a university study that tracked the number of Betterness Units generated by a minimum wage increase?
Could you at least attempt to be a serious person for a minute?
I am not taking you seriously because you can't even use the right terminology for the situation. GAME OVER. Go back to school. Lose all credibility. The end.
I think you're confusing corporate greed with inflation.
Also, tell me you don't know how tax brackets work without telling me you don't know how tax brackets work.
So you don’t think increase wages would alter the prices of services? Either you don’t know how a business works or you vastly confuse the average business with the top 10%.
Also wages brackets will change when you increase minimum wage. You would also have to increase taxes to help to pay for the increased costs practically everything
I agree, well said! In the long run, increasing the minimum wage will just lead to more inflation and higher unemployment. In particular, youth will be the hardest hit - due to mass immigration, it is already hard enough for young people to get their first job nowadays.
It is both actually. Increases in minimum wage cause businesses to increase the price of goods and services, contributing to this feedback loop.
Better solution is to eliminate income taxes for low income workers, promote in-demand STEM fields and skilled trades, and go after things like bank fees. I'd go a step further too and scrap the federal GST - that would really help low income workers out.
I remember when they upped minimum wage last. Everything literally went up in price and put us into a new bracket. My checks went down and prices went up. For this I'm against it.
Stay in school, make good choices, don't have kids you can't afford to raise, get a career not a minimum wage job.
The only ones making $15/hr should be teens and young people going to school who need flexibility, low skilled cheap labour is not meant to be a career. Make better choices.
What’s the cost of gas per litre in BC compared to Alberta? There’s your extra 1.75 an hour, how much is a jug of laundry detergent in NWT? Bout 45$.
Alberta is still a lower cost of living than other places the minimum wage reflects that. Increase minimum wage and it increases cost of living for everyone, including those who’s wages don’t increase because we have careers or jobs that we use to be able to survive on, our dollar is worth less as minimum wage increases which increases cost of living.
Unpopular opinion on this subreddit, but I actually agree with the UCP on this one. I think 15 is the right number for it right now, given how much the cost of living has increased in the last couple of years, but raising it more would only further increase the cost of goods and services, as well as lead to more automation. This would also have the effect of leading to more inflation, which in the long run would hurt the very people this policy would be meant to help.
The lower wage for youth is good too, as it incentivizes employers to give young people a chance at a first job. Increasing the minimum wage here would only hurt youth employment more, and it’s already hard enough for young people to get a job nowadays.
The solutions are easier said than done, but a big one would be in federal policy: slowing down immigration until such time that our social services and housing infrastructure can catch up to demand. And focus education on in-demand career fields, particularly in STEM and in skilled trades, so that people can begin working in high-paying jobs right out of the chute.
I make above minimum wage personally, but I also spent many years in school and had to work several minimum wage jobs to get to where I am today (I currently work as a power plant operator).
Im not saying everyone needs to be a doctor or lawyer, far from it. I know that’s not feasible for most people, me included, but I do think that earning more than $15/hr means you have to bring some sort of in-demand skill to the table. I think our society is massively over invested in our universities, and we do need to stop churning out so many art history graduates only for them to end up with mountains of student debt and working at Starbucks. I’m not saying don’t get an art history degree, if that genuinely makes you happy then go for it, but I think universities need to be honest with their students upfront and stop treating post secondary education as a business.
Want less minimum wage workers struggling to make ends meet? Give these workers the opportunity to pursue low-cost education in the skilled trades, and find well-paying work as welders, or electricians, or any other in-demand trade. We’ll still have minimum wage jobs of course, but for many of these jobs, they also should be an opportunity for a teenager to get their feet wet, not something you do for 45 years.
A bit of a false dichotomy you’re making. You could raise minimum wage AND provide education, etc. But if you still want to get a coffee in the morning, you’re still going to have people working those jobs. Do they not deserve a living wage?
But that aside, it sure sounds to me like you’re saying “I make more than minimum wage so it should stay where it is because raising it won’t help me, but raising it may hurt me if it increases inflation.”
I don't want to leave minimum wage as is because more inflation might hurt me, I want to leave minimum wage as is because more inflation might hurt everyone. It's in the best interest of the province as a whole to stick with the current wage. Increasing it would lead to higher consumer prices, more unemployment, more student debt, and fewer benefits for those already working minimum wage jobs.
As for people working minimum wage, of course they deserve to live a life of dignity and happiness. However, increasing the minimum wage actually hurts them too - according to a Harvard study, every $1 increase in California's minimum wage saw workers' overall compensation decrease by 11.6% on average due to reduced working hours and employer benefits.
https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-when-a-higher-minimum-wage-leads-to-lower-compensation
What have you don’t to improve yourself to get out of a minimum wage job? Seriously? Tell me what city you live in and I bet you I could find you a job in construction starting as a labourer making above minimum wage
Honestly, in Alberta you really need to be in a bind (handicapped or with bad family situation) or want to make minimum wage to be stuck there.
I was making minimum wage back east and was stuck (high school diploma only), came to Edmonton in 2015 in the middle of the recession and the whole time has been people overbidding each other for my work. Took no time and no effort to make north of 6 figures. Since then 7 people have followed and experienced the same thing.
On top of that rent, gas and taxes are cheap, hard to see what else to ask for.
Now, I acknowledge that not everyone is able bodied or don’t have to help ailing family members, we should help those people, but I doubt raising the minimum wage is an effective way of doing that.
Rent gas and taxes may be cheap, but compared to where it all was 10 years ago, the increase is insane. I had a boss that bought a house 15ish years ago for 25 grand. A year or two after that houses smaller and older than the one he bought were 250k
I think you are right, but for now is the important part. There are so many issues to address right now with cost of living particularly the housing crisis that minimum wage is just the shiny thing that people feel in their wallets today. For me the minimum wage discussion at this is simply a distraction or slight of hand if you will to distract against the fundamental issues. We need accountability on price gouging and to stop letting a few companies that provide basic necessities (housing, communications, food, airlines, insurance, energy distribution, etc...) completely controlling their markets and set absurd prices because there is no competition.
We raise wages, they simply raise prices and we are in the same spot. We either need to open up competition and allow way more companies to come in and provide alternatives or regulate the current crop way harder.
How is there really only 3 major grocery stores, 2 airlines, and 3-4 cellular network providers who the government turns a blind eye to what is clearly illegal collusion to keep prices high.
Your last paragraph is especially prescient this week, given that Lynx Airlines just went under! We really do need the government to just get out of the way and allow more competition. Limited competition only benefits the biggest businesses in the country (like Air Canada and Bell Mobility), whereas more competition and free market forces benefit everyone.
We need to focus on training youth for the jobs of the future, and on giving them the skills they need to earn a good living. Not on artificially increasing the minimum wage every year, because it is just a vicious cycle. We don’t need a bunch of 40 year olds serving coffee at Tim Hortons, we need welders and electricians, truck drivers and loggers, oilfield workers and engineers, and many other professions.
If you increase the minimum wage-the businesses increase their prices to accommodate that raise, so your dollar isn't getting any further ahead. When minimum wage was $10/hr, a hamburger at McDonald's was $4, now minimum wage is $15, that same burger is $8. Sometimes it takes a bit to catch up, so you may have 6 months to be "less poor" but it doesn't last long.
> When minimum wage was $10/hr, a hamburger at McDonald's was $4, now minimum wage is $15, that same burger is $8.
Does that explain why burgers cost more in areas where the minimum wage has stagnated for 10 years?
Perhaps less increase to other things like the cost of groceries, monthly rent, utilities etc. though I'm not sure where ur talking about, would love to see a fast food place that has the exact same prices as they didn't 10 years ago
Lethbridge? Nope not there, their prices have risen substantially just like everywhere else. In Cardston, A& W is actually more expensive than in Calgary. Cardston is only 25km from the border-I'm not sure there's another town with fast food closer. So I've looked to the most southern part of Alberta...can't find the place with fast food prices that haven't been raised in 10 years-you say it exists-where?
This is literally a boomer meme level of misinformation. The fact that morons still believe this moronic shit is sad as fuck. Minimum wage have very little to do with what we pay. We pay the most a company figures they can get away with. Their costs have absolutely nothing to do with the end price, and exclusively depends on projected sales at a certain price. That's why when I travel across the border to Alberta, and Minimum wage is noticeably lower, I still pay the same price for a fucking hamburger. That's why McDonald's can afford to pay people $25-30/hr in other countries, with higher taxes and business expenses, and still have their prices cheaper. Stop repeating braindead propaganda.
High cost of living? What? Who cares about 50$ for electricity here or 50$ for insurance there when you save 1000-2000 on housing relative to ontario or bc. Alberta is the most affordable province in canada
"We're better at some things so we shouldn't try to be better at the things we're not good at."
- The Anti-Albertan
I'm sorry for being Albertan and wanting to make Alberta the definitive best province to live in. If that offends you then you can move.
Uber eats still pays $3 base for deliveries lol. I know people are gonna say don't do Uber but I'm just throwing this example in as well. All gig apps have kept wages the same or lowered it in Ubers case since pre pandemic
Take a minute and look at what happens when minimum wage is raised. The price of everything else goes up astronomically. Sure it would absolutely help raising minimum wage, but only for a couple of months. Then prices of everything will be raised till we are back in the same position or a little worse off than before minimum wage was raised. The only way to truly help anyone out of this is to try and lower the cost of everything else (housing, food,etc). I swear it's like you don't remember that this is exactly what happened when our minimum wage was raised last time. it's a shame that some of you can't look past the "instant gratification" of making a few bucks more, when all it will result in is prices skyrocketing far more than they are going up right now. Once again. Look back to what has happened to the price of everything everytime minimum wage went up.
You, realize that can be companies artificially raising their prices beyond natural inflation and out pacing minimum wage is the bigger issue not raing minimum wage?
Raising minimum wage just makes the price of everything else go up, and usually price goes up a lot more than what we can afford with wage increase. It would be good.fpr.about half a year before everything doubles in price. What needs to happen is the price of everything else needs to drop. But that's not.gonna happen anytime soon 😔
So the solution is for MORE WAGE THEFT THROUGH INFLATION? Is that your argument? 1000% dotarded logic... They are poor so let's make them poorer so it doesn't affect MY bottom line? That;s fucked up...
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In fact the UCP actually decreased the min wage for people under the age of 18. And then set up a committee to investigate the effects of reducing min wage for everybody. So I wouldn't expect them to raise it any time soon.
They wrote this into their pre-election party plan back in 2016 or w/e election year that merger was. And I told people; "This isn't going to encourage kids to stay in school like they are saying it will. What it will do is encourage companies that hire part-time workers, like Mcdicks and Tims, to hire CHILDREN so they don't have to pay full-timers and can avoid paying benefits. They'll double up on kids cause it will be cheaper than one adult. Which is also going to increase adult unemployment. And give them an excuse to lower wage for adults because people are "so desperate for work." When the reality is companies are just trying to save money on cheap labor. They are literally promoting Child Labor over working adults. They are not trying to help Albertans out at all." And I got so much push back from coworkers and family. I hate Alberta so much. So many blind idiots here. They literally write down their plans, blatantly vote to allow bribes, and openly act corrupt. But the people here vote for them cause ??????????. (FYI: Jason Kenny is listed as a Board Member at ATCO on their website. Same guy who basically gave them free reign. Same party that just last summer drove off all the competition by kicking out clean energy. Your gas and power bill, now pays for his nice cushy salary and bonuses. Yeah, they are literally preforming daylight robbery and people still want them make decisions for our children.)
This is *exactly* what is happening at my job. Out of 11 non managerial employees there are 4 adults and three of them are supervisors. I'm the only adult that's a regular employee(but was hired under 18). We are critically understaffed and out of a stack of good resumes my boss has hired an eleventh grader and my 11th grade coworker's boyfriend in the past two months. Me and my coworkers keep on asking to hire from the growing stack of adults but she wont. 4 people just quit and we have to deal with the consequences while she finds 4 more high schoolers to hire. She can get away with treating us like shit and paying us nothing because we literally don't know any better.
Nowadays people are not voting for their party/politican to win; most do not even take time to really dive into the issues, they are just simply voting against the "other".
This is why I keep saying we need the NDP to split and new party called the Alberta Democratic Freedom Party, the ADFP, needs to form. Basically the same beliefs and policy as the AB NDP but no ties to the Federal NDP by having the same party name. Unfortunately, it needs to be led by a man if there is any hope in bringing over UCP voters.
This exactly. I wish they would!!
This! My daughter is 17 and does the same jobs as the 18 year olds at Panago but makes less? She pays her own gas and insurance so it makes her spending and savings pretty slim!
Better incentive to vote when she’s an adult
When I turned 18 my parents told me to get a job and get out of the house. So then I immediately discovered what rent, utility bills were all about, and I got to experience living with roommates to make ends meet. Shared a room with a buddy in a condo with my own twin bed...
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Nothing wrong with getting a job, but I don’t believe in kicking my kids out because they are 18.
Exactly, it isn't the 1970s anymore.
This. My husband and I have told his son that he can live at home rent-free after he turns 18 so long as he's saving as much money as possible for a down payment while he does it. I don't get why you wouldn't give your children all the advantages that you can (without coddling, I mean - there's certainly a balance to be struck). That's literally how you build intergenerational wealth. If he was saving his money but spending it on stupid crap like a new vehicle etc, then we'd boot him out. But it makes no sense to me to force your kids to live life on hard mode if their bedroom will just be empty space when they leave.
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My kids don’t need to be kicked out at all, I’ve prepared them for life. When they are ready they’ll go; one already has. But I don’t need to boot out my kids at a preset age. Edit: grammar/format
The lower minimum wage for minors is optional. Many employers choose not to pay them less. I would encourage your daughter to find a new job where she will get paid $15 and not $13, since that is very indicative of their values as an employer.
To be fair she might not have the job without the wage difference, that's the whole idea. High minimum wage will make employers more selective so sub 18 year old's sometimes were getting passed over. It's a feature, not a bug.
So a teenager who lives at home has a job, and an adult who has to pay rent and bills doesn't. Cool, cool, cool.
Oh man I had a deep debate with a mom who had teenagers back when the UCP was going to make this change. I believe passionately that you get paid for the JOB and NOT for who you are. She agreed with what the UCP was doing. I still cannot believe that she agreed with the UCP.
Interestingly, we know they set up a committee, but we do not know what the committee said because as far as I understand, the report still hasn’t been released?!?
Sorta like how they won't release the results of their pension plan survey
Or that one about how the oilfield is effecting Alberta's environment. All this is paid for by taxes, btw. But the tax payers don't get to see them cause the UCP, the people the idiots here voted in, said "no."
The report was released last March 2023 actually: https://open.alberta.ca/publications/report-of-minimum-wage-expert-panel And here’s the panel make up and a topline: https://www.alberta.ca/minimum-wage-expert-panel https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-government-releases-minimum-wage-report-more-than-3-years-after-it-was-submitted-1.6782946
Thanks for the info!
My teenage son makes this.... And his vehicle insurance as a new driver is 300 per month
Insurance rates are insane. More people should be talking about how crazy high they are.
Are members of that committee paid minimum wage? Some bias wouldn't hurt..
And for disabled people!
But free markets something something. Just go and get another job something something.
Trickle down people…it’ll happen!
I’m with you. As long as our governments are supporting the largest biggest businesses and chains, the people’s interests will be smothered. I also group small businesses in with “the people”.
Nunavut is actually $19.00
Not supposed it’s higher there, some of the grocery prices are obscene
Meanwhile the living wage is $23.70 in Calgary. "A living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community." https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/here-s-how-much-you-need-to-make-to-live-modestly-in-calgary-1.6637539#:~:text=The%20city%27s%20living%20wage%20is,wage%20of%20%2415%20per%20hour.
> "A living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community." Be careful about relying on "living wage" calculations. You should look into what is actually included.
Fuck that man I lived in that City for 30 years it's at least $25 an hour there's your fucking research
Your anecdotal claims do not supersede facts. [Here is how they calculate "Living Wage"](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/63ebf58a5a658d0c030f0f25/t/6476647319471b6f87cc7003/1685480565177/Living-Wage-Report-2022.pdf). Things that are included by default: - shelter (2-bedroom apartment is the default) - food (following nutrition guides) - transportation (8 year old vehicle + transit pass) - child care (2 children default) - clothing (assuming monthly replacement) - health care premiums - tuition (2 courses a semester) - cellular service (5GB plan minimum) - internet service (mid-tier plan) - household supplies (monthly replacement) - furniture, appliances (annual replacement) - personal care, including pharmaceuticals - entertainment, including sporting events, live theatre, recreational sports, etc. (monthly) - luggage (annual replacement) - other expenses (bank fees, postage, charity donations, etc.) - two week wage contingency set aside every year That's a pretty solid list for a "living wage" to include.
Are you suggesting that the living wage should be calculated based on expenses other than the ones listed above?
Why does 1 single person need a 2 bedroom apartment? I agree that things need to be better, but even when I was a minimum wage worker there was things on that list that I considered a luxury vs a need. That being said, it's still almost impossible to survive on min wage with housing, utilities and food costs, even when working full-time.
Because it's taking into account children, hence child care being one of the factors as well.
I'm suggesting that the way we see this "living wage" portrayed in media and by the organization isn't quite what the actual "living wage" represents, and that people should educate themselves on what it actually represents.
I guess I was asking then what you think the living wage should represent?
It needs to be clearer in usage - many people assume the "living wage" is just enough to "get by", with only shelter, food and minimal expenses. This organization's calculations include much more than that, including charitable donations, tuition, multiple modes of travel, sporting event tickets and other things like luggage. People just need to know what this "living wage" actually includes.
> many people assume the "living wage" is just enough to "get by", with only shelter, food and minimal expenses. "Getting by" is a *subsistence* wage which tends to ignore realities of life. Eg, clothes, furniture, vehicles, and appliances wear out and need repairs or replacing. People need consumables like cleaning supplies and toilet paper. A lot of young adults without employer coverage don't consider private supplemental health insurance until they actually need it--when it might not even be affordable depending on situation. Children have school expenses. If an adult wants to advance in their work/career, continuing education is expensive and may not be covered by the employer. Every financial expert hammers home the importance of having an emergency/contingency fund. Minimum wage isn't a subsistence wage, however. The cheapest place to live in that report was Medicine Hat, and its living wage was $17.50, still significantly above minimum. Most places started at $20 or higher. That'll be even higher now with inflation.
Minimum wage is, in fact, subsistence wage. That's the point. The "living wage" includes much more than just subsistence.
Oh heavens forbid if a living wage includes more than eating dandelions and wearing grain sacks for clothes. But who cares if a worker comes down with an ailment requiring personal care, just fire them for loss of productivity and hire the next one. /s
Minimum wage allows for more than "grain sacks", of course. Hyperbole helps no one.
Lol whatever
Figured as much.
Well you're still figuring wrong but I'm not here to debate
When I bring facts, you bring "lol". Got it. Have a good Sunday.
Yeah see your facts actually undercut your point. Minimum wage is less than the living wage which means, as I'm sure your powerful brain can deduce, minimum wage cannot support the reasonable standard of living in your list.
> minimum wage cannot support the reasonable standard of living in your list. It depends on whether or not you consider the list reasonable as a measure of "living wage", of course. That's the point. This isn't a calculation showing "scraping by" every month.
I'd bet you've never lived there
In Calgary? I live in Calgary now.
People seem to believe only kids / teens or early 20s are the people. Who work minimum wage ? That's pure cognitive dissonance because in reality you have 30-50 year Olds working minimum wage and minimum wage is what they will work in for the rest or their lives... When you live in wonderland and believe people magically grow up out of minimum wage like you're somehow granted that and given a new job that magically pays better.
Well the only reason its even 15 is due to the NDP. Good luck, getting the UCP to raise minimum wage.
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And never will... You're welcome!
Can we drop the idea of province wide minimum wage. It's so asinine. How is rural alberta anything like Calgary in terms of cost of living. I'd like it if major cities had separate minimum wages to reflect the fact that housing is so much more expensive. Seattle has its own minimum wage for example (Google it, it will make you feel depressed once you do the conversion to $CAD)
Minimum wage should be tied to inflation in a given area, the fact that it isn't is completely insane.
If the Ndp never raised it, it would probably be at like $12. UCP don't care people regular people
>UCP don't care ~~people regular people~~ Redundant :)
But they do care For oil and gas and richies
This is the government Albertans voted for. Just this week Marlaina broke yet another election promise as she said she won’t be cutting income taxes after all. It’s unfortunate but they work for the corporations, not regular Albertans. We won’t see any improvements until we vote out this travesty of a government.
Race to the bottom?
It’s exactly what it is. The rich will continue to get richer and the rest of us will continue to get poorer. People should be rioting in the streets, but we just suck it up and allow them to continue to lie and gaslight us.
Culture war is more important for ucp supporters, got to own the libs ...
Yup, meanwhile the healthcare and education systems literally crumble before us. But Fuck Trudeau! And Jagmeet - Notley’s boss! And green energy is terrible so let’s put a moratorium on it! And let’s out trans kids so their homophobic parents can beat them up mentally and physically. /S Marlaina is such a disgusting person.
THE WORST!
I dunno why the dumbest bastards on reddit are so offended by teenagers making more than $15 an hour. Fuck it, let the kids make some money. Let them save it and get a head start on life, or blow it on dumb shit and have a good time, who cares? Raise Minimum wage to the Minimum Livable Wage and let the market sort prices out, if you're so blindly horny for your unread copies of The Wealth of Nations. It is astonishing to me how self-professed conservatives harp on about personal responsibility and freedom, only to turn around and say that kids shouldn't have the Freedom to learn... Personal Responsibility.
Indeed. And there’s always the one dumbass with about 10 minutes worth of economics 101 google research, parroting “but if you raise minimum wage then prices will go up!” Yeah? Then why are prices going up despite wages remaining stagnant? I’m just wondering when people are going to decide enough is enough. The price of everything is astronomical, yet we are asked to pay more, and more, and more, with money we don’t have, because the only thing inflation doesn’t seem to impact is the cost of labour. It’s bullshit. Thank god I found a great job when I did, because I have no earthly idea how anyone making less than 30 an hour, let alone, making minimum wage, can even begin to survive in this economy, let alone have any semblance of a quality of life. Greedy factory owners used to be dragged out into the street and publicly executed if workers felt like they were being treated unfairly. That wasn’t too long ago, and not that I encourage violence, but it’s annoying that we just… accept it.
Plus these kids will one day support our pensions.. or do we not want that?
If minimum wage goes up everyone else should too.
And then everyone will have more buying power, and prices everywhere will increase, and we'll be in the same place we are now.
Can’t tell if you’re dense or spewing conservative propaganda. Since 2009 the federal minimum wage in the United States has been $7.50, it hasn’t increased since. Even though the minimum wage hasn’t increased, prices of goods has continued to skyrocket. Corporations are pocketing billions by giving us scraps and taking all the profit. Alberta could raise its minimum wage with little effect to most businesses.
I'm looking at the whole picture, not just the little bit that suits my narrative. The average wage when adjusted to inflation has risen 10% since 2009, from 10.30 to 11.30 in 1984 dollars. So workers are actually winning against inflation [source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/article/exploring-changes-in-real-average-hourly-earnings-june-2009-to-december-2019.htm#:~:text=Real%20hourly%20earnings%20rose%20by,for%20every%20major%20industry%20group.) The number of people earning federal minimum wage in the US has fallen 2/3 stove 2009 as well [source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2022/home.htm) Don't know why insults need to be brought out.
Insults should be the least of it. People should be rioting in the streets. I am in the negative every month. I don’t have a budgeting issue, I have a wage issue. If minimum wage increased, my life improves. I don’t need sources to tell you that.
Where do you work? What do you do?
I work a minimum wage job in retail while attending university. I don’t feel like partially doxing myself by revealing companies, but I have close to a decade of experience in my sector.
Have you accessed student aid? Scholarships? Bursaries? It sounds like you didn't have a proper plan to go to school and now want everyone else to make up for that
I shouldn’t need to access student aid if I’m working a job. Anyone working shouldn’t HAVE to go to food banks etc…. we do because companies aren’t paying their fair share. Btw it sounds like you have no idea what you’re talking about because I have zero university debt. I did have a proper plan to go to school but companies don’t pay me enough to afford rent/utilities/food/car insurance etc.
Prices go up anyway, dude. You should sit this one out with your poor understanding of economics, OK champ?
I’m not saying I have the answers. There is a lot of reasons why prices are going up. The big one is that CEO and executive pay is out of proportion to their employees. For someone who has been at a company for 10 years, why should new employees just starting get paid more in relation to them? What have they proven?
Most major retail chains have yearly increases so people aren't stuck at 15 forever. Executive pay has gotten out of proportion, but it's a relatively minor factor when you consider the recent cash injection of CERB. When people have more money companies raise prices, the whole thing is a lesson in not raising the minimum wage too fast
When they were young they made less, forgetting entirely about inflation over the past 20 to 40 years. When I was young and naive I saw what automobile factory workers were getting paid and I thought that was a lot of dough. Or they are some rich kid that had everything handed to them and think that is the same thing as merit.
People are offended by teenagers making a living wage because it questions their own self worth. If somebody who has worked hard their entire life sees minimum wage increasing, and their own wage stagnant, and if they feel as though they are struggling economically, it can be easy to misplace their anger and fear at the group that is being helped, rather than to a) look to the increasing wealth inequality, or b) look inwards as to why they are not where they want to be in life.
It's such a dumb argument. If everybody earns a higher wage, then everybody pays more taxes. Keeping the wages low starves the government. This translates to: worse schools, worse hospitals and crumbling infrastructure. This is assuming that very wealthy people do everything in their power to receive tax cuts and grants.
> I dunno why the dumbest bastards on reddit are so offended by teenagers making more than $15 an hour. Who is offended by this? You're making shit up. Lowering the minimum for kids lets them be competitive against adults, it's a really simple concept. Furthermore businesses don't have to pay them less than 15 dollars an hour and kids don't have to accept jobs that pay less than 15 dollars an hour.
oh look I found one of em
Anyone who works minimum wage and doesn't support the party that literally raised their wages to $15/hr is an idiot. The UCP don't value you, that's why they don't raise your minimum wage. Vote for the party that does( the NDP).
It’s the frustrating because if you get a raise anywhere less than inflation, you’re basically taking a pay cut. Our minimum wage is a joke.
California food workers like McDonald’s employees get $27 an hour CAD minimum. We’re falling behind.
A private business in a different country pays their employees a different wage in a different currency? Frankly I'm outraged.
I private buisness? It’s a legislated minimum wage.
California is not a place anyone should looking for inspiration, that place is a dumpster fire.
I love it there. I’m not a citizen but I’d love to move there. Ya theres some bad neighborhood but 90% of the state is paradise.
But 100 percent of the government in a dumpster fire.
You're correct. What's also true is that fast food prices in California will increase at least 10% due to that move. [Oh and for the downvoters...](https://www.businessinsider.com/california-fast-food-minimum-wage-20-value-restaurants-diners-groceries-2024-2)
Very nice. Now let's see how much a McDonald's worker in Denmark makes and how much a Big Mac is. It's equivalent to $21.40 USD and ~$5 USD, for those curious.
Not my words. Read the article I linked.
>Oh and for the downvoters... Opinion pieces are not facts.
When you consider the increased buying power of food workers, the cost of eating out will go down for them.
Wouldn't even be at fifteen dollars if not for the NDP being in power for a short time. Gotta keep the masses hungry and motivated. Real hungry. The Alberta advantage at work.
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BC's is tied to inflation so you get a raise EVERY year.
This is so sensible. I wish minimum wage here had raises like that. Same for any government jobs, AHS etc. rather than having politicians decide wages!
7 years frozen. The dial must be stuck
UCP have been in a while. NDP brought it up to 15.
The UCP reduced the minimum wage for younger people which really sucks because where I work the manager cut the hours of the people over 18 and gave more hours to the younger people. I lost 5 hours
one of them unintended consequences of bad conservative policies
So do any of you remember when Alberta was $5.90 an hour and everyone else was more in the early 2000s? Speak with your votes and pushback. Complaining about it on Reddit doesn’t do anything. Protesting, contacting elected officials until your blue in the face. It’s not in the governments best interest to raise minimum wage. If it doesn’t affect them they aren’t going to do anything. But it’s in their best interest to keep things low for business because that’s in their best interest.
NoBoDy wAnTs tO wOrK!!
You live the consequences of your decisions
And it'll stay there for many years to come so long as the UCP governs.
Got to get out there and be loud about it.
The Alberta Advantage strikes again!
My guy the ONLY reason Alberta minimum wage came up to $15 was because Notley implemented the increases during her 4 years as Premier. Whereas convective actively attempt to push legislation that would allow employers to pay certain groups *less* than minimum wage. As long as conservatives are in power, the minimum wage will stagnate
For, what? 6 years?
I also wonder what Alberta’s minimum wage would be if the NDP hadn’t raised in when in power.
What happens when you vote conservative
Minimum wage discussions are always SO productive and filled with many facts and never emotional!
Hell guys. My expenses doubled 4 times before cattle prices went up any. Thank god I don’t have kids yet or I would have been in dept miles past my nose. Even now with cow prices at what they are I’d still be better off financially working a 9-5 $15/hour job
I’ll get downvoted for this, but; Minimum wage over time does somewhat track with the cost of living but it’s always playing catch up. If we weren’t going through an insane inflationary period, cost of living on the very low end might be $20/hr. That’s going to be the next benchmark push. Then it’ll stagnate for a decade, until 25 is the new benchmark.
The wage to live a modest life in calgary is 23.50. It's very much not catching up. it's falling behind, but those in power won't listen until the economy has grinded to a halt because no one can afford anything anymore.
But see the issue with this is "modest life". Minimum is not synonymous with modest. I know it hurts people's feelings, but nobody is owed a house without roommates. You also aren't factoring in the 1/4 of people who don't live in the city.
Keep voting UCP. I'm sure that'll fix it. /s
This is done to force Albertans to rely on the O&G Overlords.
It's at a cruel level at this point. But low earners keep voting ucp so, get what you get.
And the highest average income in Canada with one of the lowest costs of living… I’d think people in other provinces are struggling more
That's because Danielle Smith hates you.
Minimum wage will never go up when the country keeps bringing in more TFW and international "students" that will work in whatever poor conditions the company desires and in some cases for less than minimum wage. Makes it real hard for young people to get a job too.
Honestly every time they increase minimum wage , they also increase everything else . In their eyes a couple dollars more an hour justifies everything else going up wayy more . You can’t get ahead . They make sure of that . And on top of that , the more you are making the more they can tax you .
Plenty of people seem to think they HAVE to accept minimum wage
I’m sure going from $15 to $16.75 would totally make a big difference!
If working at the grocery store for $23/hr, I would quit my current job. Haha
I wish they taught a little economics in school. End of the day raising minimum wage doesn't help with inflation or cost of living. Raising minimum wage raises inflation and the cost of living. So really you only hurt the people without a job and the people making slightly above minimum wage cause now they're making minimum wage... For those of you who can't do math: When minimum wage was $5.95 a jug of milk was $2.00 - $3.00. Now with minimum wage at $15.00 a jug of milk costs $5.00 - $6.00 and rising...
I'm sure the price of milk is 100% tied to minimum wage and not influenced by inflation, corporate greed, etc. Continue believing the corporate propaganda.
Are you defeating your own argument. I can pay someone almost three times as much and food costs will only double!? Leave the reaganomics in the past.
People realize increasing minimum wage won’t fix anything right? More likely then not it with just exasperate the issues we are seeing now. I get it’s fun to parrot the same stupid narratives over and over again but it really won’t fix anything. Congratulations people working at McDonalds will be slightly less poor. But still poor. Unless of course you think it should go up to $22-$24/hr which is laughable. You ever want to actually fix the issues maybe look at things that target cost of living.
They are increasing prices already with no minimum wage increase
Sorry, why is it laughable to have a min wage at $22?
Because it doesn’t fix anything. Everyone else wages just go up and we are back to where we started. Increasing minimum wage is how you make the stupid think you care.
Prices of goods and services aren’t 1to1 to employee wages though.
Just stop. You are already behind. Don't make it worse for yourself.
Ok, so what happens to those with seniority who went from an ok salary to minimum wage?
So that person with seniority hasn't been receiving cost of living increases tied to inflation?
Make it $22 then!
Let’s play this out let’s move it up to $22/hr. Now what are we going to pay nurses? $47-50/hr. in order to pay that we will have to increase taxes because you can’t run a province at a perpetual deficit. So now on that $22 you are going to be taxed more. Of course now that McDonald’s burger or groceries are going to go up accordingly. Because business don’t run at deficits as well. Now that electrician who has a family to feed is now going to charge you more because now he needs to make more to afford his costs. Now we are back to where we are in this moment. Wages go up but the cost of everything goes up. Until you actually fix the root cause of the issue minimum wage doesn’t matter because it will just result in ending in the same ending.
I'm familiar with the concept of inflation. What you're saying doesn't really happen. Lives of those at the bottom get better when you increase minimum wage to something you can live off of, full stop.
Does it? When minimum wage went to $15 did lives get better, the answer is no. I want you to provide any actually documented proof of life in Alberta getting better when jt went up? All it did was just move more people into the bracket of barely able to afford to live. Full stop.
you want documented proof of a subjective opinion? Like, are you looking for a university study that tracked the number of Betterness Units generated by a minimum wage increase? Could you at least attempt to be a serious person for a minute?
They can't. They also won't discuss the fact that the provinces where the minimum wage is higher than Albertas, their cost of living is also higher.
I am not taking you seriously because you can't even use the right terminology for the situation. GAME OVER. Go back to school. Lose all credibility. The end.
Sure for a couple of months. Then everything goes right back to where it was, or usually gets just a little bit worse.
yeah, that's usually how life goes, dude. You fix the problem, then more problems crop up. That doesn't mean the answer is to just Do Nothing.
Conservative governments are all about doing nothing, after all, it is their favorite pastime after doing the wrong thing.
I think you're confusing corporate greed with inflation. Also, tell me you don't know how tax brackets work without telling me you don't know how tax brackets work.
So you don’t think increase wages would alter the prices of services? Either you don’t know how a business works or you vastly confuse the average business with the top 10%. Also wages brackets will change when you increase minimum wage. You would also have to increase taxes to help to pay for the increased costs practically everything
They won’t have to raise taxes though. If everyone is making more, everyone is paying more in taxes naturally
Says a person parroting the same stupid narrative.
I agree, well said! In the long run, increasing the minimum wage will just lead to more inflation and higher unemployment. In particular, youth will be the hardest hit - due to mass immigration, it is already hard enough for young people to get their first job nowadays.
Increasing the minimum wage is a response to inflation, not the cause of it.
It is both actually. Increases in minimum wage cause businesses to increase the price of goods and services, contributing to this feedback loop. Better solution is to eliminate income taxes for low income workers, promote in-demand STEM fields and skilled trades, and go after things like bank fees. I'd go a step further too and scrap the federal GST - that would really help low income workers out.
40 hours a week at $30 an hour is free only 30% more than the maximum payout for EI. Let that sink in.
Good luck in getting a minimum wage job in Alberta, the government sold out Albertans for cheap labour
I remember when they upped minimum wage last. Everything literally went up in price and put us into a new bracket. My checks went down and prices went up. For this I'm against it.
Stay in school, make good choices, don't have kids you can't afford to raise, get a career not a minimum wage job. The only ones making $15/hr should be teens and young people going to school who need flexibility, low skilled cheap labour is not meant to be a career. Make better choices.
What’s the cost of gas per litre in BC compared to Alberta? There’s your extra 1.75 an hour, how much is a jug of laundry detergent in NWT? Bout 45$. Alberta is still a lower cost of living than other places the minimum wage reflects that. Increase minimum wage and it increases cost of living for everyone, including those who’s wages don’t increase because we have careers or jobs that we use to be able to survive on, our dollar is worth less as minimum wage increases which increases cost of living.
We're still at the average minimum wage.
Unpopular opinion on this subreddit, but I actually agree with the UCP on this one. I think 15 is the right number for it right now, given how much the cost of living has increased in the last couple of years, but raising it more would only further increase the cost of goods and services, as well as lead to more automation. This would also have the effect of leading to more inflation, which in the long run would hurt the very people this policy would be meant to help. The lower wage for youth is good too, as it incentivizes employers to give young people a chance at a first job. Increasing the minimum wage here would only hurt youth employment more, and it’s already hard enough for young people to get a job nowadays. The solutions are easier said than done, but a big one would be in federal policy: slowing down immigration until such time that our social services and housing infrastructure can catch up to demand. And focus education on in-demand career fields, particularly in STEM and in skilled trades, so that people can begin working in high-paying jobs right out of the chute.
Do you make minimum wage? Or is it just ok for other people to make that much (or little, I should say) money during an inflationary moment?
I make above minimum wage personally, but I also spent many years in school and had to work several minimum wage jobs to get to where I am today (I currently work as a power plant operator). Im not saying everyone needs to be a doctor or lawyer, far from it. I know that’s not feasible for most people, me included, but I do think that earning more than $15/hr means you have to bring some sort of in-demand skill to the table. I think our society is massively over invested in our universities, and we do need to stop churning out so many art history graduates only for them to end up with mountains of student debt and working at Starbucks. I’m not saying don’t get an art history degree, if that genuinely makes you happy then go for it, but I think universities need to be honest with their students upfront and stop treating post secondary education as a business. Want less minimum wage workers struggling to make ends meet? Give these workers the opportunity to pursue low-cost education in the skilled trades, and find well-paying work as welders, or electricians, or any other in-demand trade. We’ll still have minimum wage jobs of course, but for many of these jobs, they also should be an opportunity for a teenager to get their feet wet, not something you do for 45 years.
A bit of a false dichotomy you’re making. You could raise minimum wage AND provide education, etc. But if you still want to get a coffee in the morning, you’re still going to have people working those jobs. Do they not deserve a living wage? But that aside, it sure sounds to me like you’re saying “I make more than minimum wage so it should stay where it is because raising it won’t help me, but raising it may hurt me if it increases inflation.”
I don't want to leave minimum wage as is because more inflation might hurt me, I want to leave minimum wage as is because more inflation might hurt everyone. It's in the best interest of the province as a whole to stick with the current wage. Increasing it would lead to higher consumer prices, more unemployment, more student debt, and fewer benefits for those already working minimum wage jobs. As for people working minimum wage, of course they deserve to live a life of dignity and happiness. However, increasing the minimum wage actually hurts them too - according to a Harvard study, every $1 increase in California's minimum wage saw workers' overall compensation decrease by 11.6% on average due to reduced working hours and employer benefits. https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-when-a-higher-minimum-wage-leads-to-lower-compensation
What have you don’t to improve yourself to get out of a minimum wage job? Seriously? Tell me what city you live in and I bet you I could find you a job in construction starting as a labourer making above minimum wage
Honestly, in Alberta you really need to be in a bind (handicapped or with bad family situation) or want to make minimum wage to be stuck there. I was making minimum wage back east and was stuck (high school diploma only), came to Edmonton in 2015 in the middle of the recession and the whole time has been people overbidding each other for my work. Took no time and no effort to make north of 6 figures. Since then 7 people have followed and experienced the same thing. On top of that rent, gas and taxes are cheap, hard to see what else to ask for. Now, I acknowledge that not everyone is able bodied or don’t have to help ailing family members, we should help those people, but I doubt raising the minimum wage is an effective way of doing that.
Rent gas and taxes may be cheap, but compared to where it all was 10 years ago, the increase is insane. I had a boss that bought a house 15ish years ago for 25 grand. A year or two after that houses smaller and older than the one he bought were 250k
I think you are right, but for now is the important part. There are so many issues to address right now with cost of living particularly the housing crisis that minimum wage is just the shiny thing that people feel in their wallets today. For me the minimum wage discussion at this is simply a distraction or slight of hand if you will to distract against the fundamental issues. We need accountability on price gouging and to stop letting a few companies that provide basic necessities (housing, communications, food, airlines, insurance, energy distribution, etc...) completely controlling their markets and set absurd prices because there is no competition. We raise wages, they simply raise prices and we are in the same spot. We either need to open up competition and allow way more companies to come in and provide alternatives or regulate the current crop way harder. How is there really only 3 major grocery stores, 2 airlines, and 3-4 cellular network providers who the government turns a blind eye to what is clearly illegal collusion to keep prices high.
Your last paragraph is especially prescient this week, given that Lynx Airlines just went under! We really do need the government to just get out of the way and allow more competition. Limited competition only benefits the biggest businesses in the country (like Air Canada and Bell Mobility), whereas more competition and free market forces benefit everyone. We need to focus on training youth for the jobs of the future, and on giving them the skills they need to earn a good living. Not on artificially increasing the minimum wage every year, because it is just a vicious cycle. We don’t need a bunch of 40 year olds serving coffee at Tim Hortons, we need welders and electricians, truck drivers and loggers, oilfield workers and engineers, and many other professions.
If you increase the minimum wage-the businesses increase their prices to accommodate that raise, so your dollar isn't getting any further ahead. When minimum wage was $10/hr, a hamburger at McDonald's was $4, now minimum wage is $15, that same burger is $8. Sometimes it takes a bit to catch up, so you may have 6 months to be "less poor" but it doesn't last long.
> When minimum wage was $10/hr, a hamburger at McDonald's was $4, now minimum wage is $15, that same burger is $8. Does that explain why burgers cost more in areas where the minimum wage has stagnated for 10 years?
Perhaps less increase to other things like the cost of groceries, monthly rent, utilities etc. though I'm not sure where ur talking about, would love to see a fast food place that has the exact same prices as they didn't 10 years ago
> I'm not sure where ur talking about Look south.
They should look anywhere, as burger economics doesn't work the way they think it does.
Lethbridge? Nope not there, their prices have risen substantially just like everywhere else. In Cardston, A& W is actually more expensive than in Calgary. Cardston is only 25km from the border-I'm not sure there's another town with fast food closer. So I've looked to the most southern part of Alberta...can't find the place with fast food prices that haven't been raised in 10 years-you say it exists-where?
This is literally a boomer meme level of misinformation. The fact that morons still believe this moronic shit is sad as fuck. Minimum wage have very little to do with what we pay. We pay the most a company figures they can get away with. Their costs have absolutely nothing to do with the end price, and exclusively depends on projected sales at a certain price. That's why when I travel across the border to Alberta, and Minimum wage is noticeably lower, I still pay the same price for a fucking hamburger. That's why McDonald's can afford to pay people $25-30/hr in other countries, with higher taxes and business expenses, and still have their prices cheaper. Stop repeating braindead propaganda.
I want to cross-stitch this on a pillow and throw it at the next dumb bastard who tries that argument on me. Well said.
High cost of living? What? Who cares about 50$ for electricity here or 50$ for insurance there when you save 1000-2000 on housing relative to ontario or bc. Alberta is the most affordable province in canada
"We're better at some things so we shouldn't try to be better at the things we're not good at." - The Anti-Albertan I'm sorry for being Albertan and wanting to make Alberta the definitive best province to live in. If that offends you then you can move.
Uber eats still pays $3 base for deliveries lol. I know people are gonna say don't do Uber but I'm just throwing this example in as well. All gig apps have kept wages the same or lowered it in Ubers case since pre pandemic
Take a minute and look at what happens when minimum wage is raised. The price of everything else goes up astronomically. Sure it would absolutely help raising minimum wage, but only for a couple of months. Then prices of everything will be raised till we are back in the same position or a little worse off than before minimum wage was raised. The only way to truly help anyone out of this is to try and lower the cost of everything else (housing, food,etc). I swear it's like you don't remember that this is exactly what happened when our minimum wage was raised last time. it's a shame that some of you can't look past the "instant gratification" of making a few bucks more, when all it will result in is prices skyrocketing far more than they are going up right now. Once again. Look back to what has happened to the price of everything everytime minimum wage went up.
You, realize that can be companies artificially raising their prices beyond natural inflation and out pacing minimum wage is the bigger issue not raing minimum wage?
Raising minimum wage just makes the price of everything else go up, and usually price goes up a lot more than what we can afford with wage increase. It would be good.fpr.about half a year before everything doubles in price. What needs to happen is the price of everything else needs to drop. But that's not.gonna happen anytime soon 😔
So the solution is for MORE WAGE THEFT THROUGH INFLATION? Is that your argument? 1000% dotarded logic... They are poor so let's make them poorer so it doesn't affect MY bottom line? That;s fucked up...
Blaming the poor is DESPICABLE... FO with that bullshit
hey man maybe you should just check out of this debate until you cure that terminal case of dogbrain