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Minimum wage

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  • Jul 27th, 2014 4:44 pm
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Poll: Min. wage

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Deal Fanatic
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Jul 13, 2014
6052 posts
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Parry Sound

Minimum wage

For it or against it?

As Chris Rock once said: “I used to work at McDonald's making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss was trying to say? 'Hey if I could pay you less, I would, but it's against the law.'"

I used to be for it. You get paid a bare minimum. Enough to survive. If you want more, you develop your skills and aim for a better job/career.
Then I was against it. Competition and an open + free market would regulate wages for specific jobs.

But now all I see is the cons of both sides. Not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.

i.e. minimum wage increase = cost of living increase + inconsistent with inflation = no point in increasing in the first place
i.e. no minimum wage = always someone more deseprate for a job and willing to work for less money than you = broke and jobless
14 replies
Deal Expert
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Oct 26, 2003
39338 posts
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Winnipeg
we already have an active thread on the minimum wage
Deal Expert
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Jan 7, 2007
21265 posts
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Poormond Hill
I'm for it. Those who don't want betterment for themselves, should stick to minimum wages.
Reward those who aspire to greatness.
A life spent making mistakes is not only more memorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
Deal Fanatic
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Oct 22, 2007
9280 posts
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London
This topic has never come up here before.
What about tipping people making minimum wage? Let's get two OT favourites together, chocolate and peanut butter style.
Deal Addict
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Aug 9, 2013
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Markham
I expect minimum wage paid in places where the employees don't really need much brain power, and what they do doesn't affect others (i.e walmart, mcdonalds, etc). I am not expecting someone who works there to go "above and beyond" to help me out. They are there to answer simple questions, and point you in a direction while they stock shelves. Minimum wage, I expect minimum output.
Be Happy
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Jul 13, 2014
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Parry Sound
divx wrote: we already have an active thread on the minimum wage
I missed it. Link?
Deal Fanatic
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Jul 13, 2014
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Parry Sound
beachdude wrote: I expect minimum wage paid in places where the employees don't really need much brain power, and what they do doesn't affect others (i.e walmart, mcdonalds, etc). I am not expecting someone who works there to go "above and beyond" to help me out. They are there to answer simple questions, and point you in a direction while they stock shelves. Minimum wage, I expect minimum output.
Exactly. It goes both ways, though. You can either view it as a chance to prove yourself and attempt to get a raise and move beyond the minimum or you could assume you'll never have the opportunity to go above and beyond so why bother.
I mean, how passionate can someone be about stocking shelves?
Deal Expert
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Oct 26, 2003
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MayorOfToronto wrote: I missed it. Link?
ontario-minimum-wage-now-11-00-hour-sha ... s-1488212/



here is an article on the minimum wage, apparently it's the same as it was back in 1975
A minimum wage job pays roughly the same now as it did in 1975 after fluctuating lower in the 1980s and 1990s, according to a study by Statistics Canada.

The average minimum wage in Canada in 2013 was $10.14 an hour while the 1975 minimum wage, expressed in today’s dollars, averaged out to $10.13.

That means workers in minimum wage jobs have gained only a penny an hour in purchasing power in 40 years, said Erin Weir, an economist with the United Steelworkers.

“We’d like to think that people get better off over time, but that hasn’t happened,” Weir said, pointing out that some expenses, such as rent and utilities may have increased faster than the consumer price index used to measure inflation.

Many provinces have now indexed minimum wage to inflation, meaning those working for the lowest wages won’t fall further behind, but Weir said there is no reason provincial governments can’t raise their minimum wages by more than inflation.

“Another point would be to improve labour legislation to make it more practical for workers to join unions and bargain collectively for better wages,” he said.

In 1975, the actual minimum wage ranged from $2.15 an hour in New Brunswick to $2.75 an hour in British Columbia, with an average of $2.60. In 2013, the minimum wage ranges from $9.95 in Alberta to $10.54 in Yukon, with Statistics Canada pinpointing the average at $10.14.

Lowest paid fell behind in 1980s

Between 1975 and 1986, what those in the lowest-paid jobs earned declined from $10.13 to $7.53, before increasing to $8.81 in 1996 and to $8.50 in 2003.

Weir said that decline in wages resulted from a swing to the right in Canadian governments, with provinces failing to raise their minimum wage for years.

“There was an ideology that government shouldn’t try to regulate the labour market. That was a mistake,” he said.

Business leaders say that raising the minimum wage leads to fewer job opportunities – a claim made as consistently in 1975 as it is today.

But more people made minimum wage in 2013 than 15 years ago, according to Statistics Canada – about 6.7 per cent of the workforce, compared to five per cent in 1997. In Prince Edward Island 9.3 per cent of workers were in minimum wage jobs and in Ontario, 8.9 per cent earned the minimum wage. That compares with just 1.8 per cent in Alberta.

Young workers, the less-educated and those who work part-time were most likely to be paid minimum wage. In retail, 17 per cent of employees earned minimum wage and in accommodation and food services industries, the rate was 27 per cent. Many of the new jobs created over the past 20 years have been in the service sector.
source http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/ ... -in-1975-2


seems some people fails to understand that wage do get better over time, nobody suppose to be making minimum wage forever
Deal Fanatic
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Sep 1, 2013
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Am against minimum wage primarily because it results in higher unemployment.
Penalty Box
May 12, 2011
3407 posts
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North Vancouver
beachdude wrote: I expect minimum wage paid in places where the employees don't really need much brain power, and what they do doesn't affect others (i.e walmart, mcdonalds, etc). I am not expecting someone who works there to go "above and beyond" to help me out. They are there to answer simple questions, and point you in a direction while they stock shelves. Minimum wage, I expect minimum output.
If I were a customer going into Loblaw stores like superstore I would except more of an effort because the max we can make is $24.75. After 5-6 years you are at the max I have been there since 2006 and I am capped at $24.75. Easiest job for making that much lol.
Deal Addict
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Aug 9, 2013
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Markham
MayorOfToronto wrote: Exactly. It goes both ways, though. You can either view it as a chance to prove yourself and attempt to get a raise and move beyond the minimum or you could assume you'll never have the opportunity to go above and beyond so why bother.
I mean, how passionate can someone be about stocking shelves?
I disagree with the other side. Maybe Walmart was a bad example, but that's the first job I had at 16, and they didn't pay minimum wage, they paid more. So I did a better job because I wanted to make more than minimum. I had friends who worked minimum & they did a crap job.

As for your second post, I think there are two types of people - one who takes pride in their work and one who doesnt. I always take pride in the work I do, whether it was as a cashier, or as a shelf stocker, or doing what I do now. Forget the paycheque, you have to go home at night and say "i did the best I did today" for yourself
Be Happy
Deal Addict
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Aug 9, 2013
2693 posts
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Markham
Sharks316 wrote: If I were a customer going into Loblaw stores like superstore I would except more of an effort because the max we can make is $24.75. After 5-6 years you are at the max I have been there since 2006 and I am capped at $24.75. Easiest job for making that much lol.
But you're expecting more assuming they make that much, but not everyone is making that much, right?

Another thing to keep in mind is the person doing the job. An older woman who works fulltime at Loblaws is probably going to be more helpful than the 17 year old kid working there in the summer who thinks of it as extra spending money.


I guess my point is, you get what you pay for, and it applies to everything. You always see people trying to get the cheapest product/item/service they can but expect million dollar production/output.
Be Happy
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Jan 13, 2012
1121 posts
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Sudbury
beachdude wrote: Minimum wage, I expect minimum output.

That's acutely funny, because a lot of bosses can't grasp this simple concept.


On that note, our current federal PM (and former, to a point), moved the economy over to a service-based economy. Sure, it helps keep things globally competitive, but then the piper is now coming to get paid, I can tell you that 90% of the folks who put down the service folks, couldn't cut the mustard themselves if they were in their shoes. Case in point: restaurants line cooks. Minimum wage (or just thereabout), but I can assure you, virtually no one I know can actually cook a steak to order, in a time-efficient fashion.
Member
Nov 25, 2013
247 posts
77 upvotes
Scarborough, ON
Im against it... <insert witty sub-comment here>.

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