British Columbia Federation of Labour

VANCOUVER - MLA's wages should be tied to a boost in the minimum wage says B.C. Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair.

In a presentation today to the Independent Commission to Review MLA Compensation, Sinclair noted that MLA's wages are already indexed, and their salaries have increased by ten percent in the last five years, while the minimum wage has remained frozen at $8 per hour for BC's 100,000 lowest paid workers.

"When it comes to entitlement, politicians should be at the back of the line-not at the front," Sinclair stated.

Sinclair acknowledged that while politicians are often maligned, the work of MLA's is important. But he also noted that there should be no additional compensation for politicians until they've acted to boost the wages of those at the bottom of the pay heap.

"Politicians would be on much firmer moral ground if they were more consistent about recognizing that all working people, not just MLA's, should be entitled to annual pay increases," said Sinclair.

The B.C. Federation of Labour has been calling on the provincial government to immediately eliminate the $6 training wage and increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour, so a minimum wage earner, working full-time, would earn enough to stay above the poverty line. The Federation has also called for additional minimum wage increases to be tied to future rates of inflation, similar to legislation currently in place in Washington State.

"A fairer indexing formula for politicians," Sinclair says, "would tie future increases to BC's rate of inflation, just like our proposal for the minimum wage."

The B.C. Federation of Labour also suggested a possible solution to the issue of MLA pensions, which has in past been a lightening rod for controversy. "MLA's should be part of one of the pension plans that already exist for public sector workers," Sinclair remarked, "so that the rules, contribution and benefit levels would be those that already apply to over 250,000 public sector workers."

Since 2001, MLA's annual salaries have increased by $7,000. That's equal to almost 50 percent of a year's income for someone earning today's minimum wage.

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For more information contact: Jessie Uppal 604-430-1421 or 604-220-0739.