The increase in the minimum wage in Quebec is considered “insufficient” and “unsustainable”

Since last fall, the collective has been demanding a minimum wage of $ 18 per hour. A minimum amount, according to him, that would allow full-time workers in Quebec to have the opportunity to climb out of poverty.

By 2021, more than 850,000 workers will earn $ 18 per hour or less, according to the group.

While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.7% from March 2021 to March 2022 in Quebec – unheard of in the past 30 years – the 75 -cent increase in the minimum wage corresponds to a 5.5% increaseregretted Virginie Larivière, spokeswoman for the collective in a press release.

He points out that the increase in the minimum wage only affects people earning less than $ 14.25. Also, anyone with a salary between $ 14.25 and $ 18 will not benefit from the salary increase.

Nearly 301,000 people are affected by the current minimum wage increase, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity.

Inflation

An increase of 75 cents per hour, on its own, remains insufficient to counter inflation in 2022, Luc Godbout, holder of the Research Chair in Taxation and Public Finance at Sherbrooke University, also argued in an interview with Economy zone Friday.

However, it should not be forgotten that with various measures adopted by governments to deal with the rising cost of living, workers are not losing their purchasing power, specified the tax expert.

While Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia have already raised their minimum wage to $ 15 per hour, Quebec should reach the same amount by May 2023, Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity, Jean Boulet, said in his announcement Friday.

But this value is already olddenounced Virginie Larivière.

Québec solidaire agrees. According to Solidarity Labor Leader Alexandre Leduc, the $ 15 goal showslack of understanding of the current reality of minimum wage employment.

Actually! $ 15 was needed five years ago, not a living wage todayhe lamented in a press release.

Lack of labor

According to Luc Godbout, the pandemic caused a labor shortage. The number of workers at $ 15 per hour is at its lowest in Quebec in 15 years, he argued in the same interview. As a result, employers had to raise wages to make their offers more attractive.

A trend that Minister Jean Boulet should follow, Alexandre Leduc continued.

” Week after week without fail, I come across businesses that put a starting salary higher than the minimum wage. […] Today, a decent and viable minimum wage is $ 18 per hour. “

Moreover, the Industrial Workers ’Union (SITT-IWW) and several prominent groups met on Sunday to demand an increase in the minimum wage to $ 22 per hour.

With information from Gérald Fillion