By: Laura Steiner
I’ve spent some time talking minimum wage, and labour reforms with the business community here in Milton. The increase in minimum wage has found universal acceptance.
The disagreement comes on how to do it. The government has a leap from the current $11.60/hour to $14.00/hr as of January 1, 2018. And then a second increase to the $15/hr January 1, 2019. The business community would like to see that stretched out.
There has been little study done as to the consequences on the economy. Studies indicate job losses of between 50,000 (Financial Accountability Officer), and 185,000 (Keep Ontario Working Coalition). The Milton Chamber of Commerce estimates 7,970 jobs would be lost in Milton alone.
There’s intangible consequences to this too. I talked to Troy Newton, owner of Troy’s Diner. He’s got a heart as big as this town, and donates a lot to different charitable causes. He told me he had to stop donating because of the increase; he felt like he couldn’t cut back on his hours, and give to charity at the same time. How bad must charities be suffering when business is cutting back on donating to them?
I talked to Leslie Johnson, owner of Merry Maids franchises for Hamilton and Halton. They’re switching to single cleaners in order to save money. Her daughter owns franchises in Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph, and they tried raising rates to meet the increased costs. They lost five customers, and are now going to roll it back. She raised some concerns about part, and full-time workers being treated the same. She’s right. What kind of atmosphere will it create to have people that work 20 hours/week earning the same rights (sick time, leave, etc) as someone working 40 hours?
The federal government is in the process of trying to make changes to corporate taxes. How much will the two sets of reforms cost businesses combined? I’ve asked, and nobody seems to know. As well-intentioned as these reforms are, the consequences could outweigh the good the government tries to do.
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