British Columbia Federation of Labour

British Columbia's minimum fell further behind the rest of Canada as Ontario increased its minimum wage today to $10.25 an hour. Tomorrow Nova Scotia will increase its minimum wage to $9.20 and New Brunswick's will rise to $8.50 with another 50 cent increase scheduled for September.

"The Campbell government has abandoned its responsibility to establish a minimum wage that is fair to the hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers in BC," says B.C. Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair. "It's time for the MLAs in the Liberal caucus to accept their responsibility and speak on behalf of their constituents and demand that the minimum wage be increased to $10. These MLAs also need to insist that future increases to the minimum wage be tied to annual increases in the cost of living."

BC's minimum wage is $8 an hour and has not increased since 2001. Under the BC Liberals, it has gone from being the highest in the country to the lowest. Inflation over the last nine years has eroded the spending power of BC's minimum wage by almost 15 percent. In BC, a majority (61 percent) of minimum wage earners are women and a majority (55 percent) are adults 20 and older.

"The Liberals told us they didn't need to increase the minimum wage when the economy was producing jobs. Now that we have eight percent unemployment and youth unemployment at 16 percent, the Liberal government tells us we can't afford to increase the minimum wage. Provincial governments across the country are facing the same economic realities and they have decided to increase their minimum wages."

"The minimum wage in BC is a national embarrassment. Other provinces have increased minimum wages as part of an anti-poverty strategy. BC has the highest rates of poverty in the country, but the Campbell government steadfastly refuses to increase the wages of the lowest paid workers in the province."

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