Alberta NDP plan to change the lowest Canadian minimum wage to the highest by 2018
34 replies, posted
[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-minimum-wage-to-increase-by-1-this-october-1.3131970[/url]
[url]http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/alberta-to-raise-minimum-wage-by-1-to-1120-on-oct-1/article25178481/[/url]
[QUOTE]The minimum wage in Alberta is going up by $1 starting this October, with the goal of an increase to $15 an hour by 2018.
Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Lori Sigurdson outlined the changes on Monday morning.
"We believe minimum wage should at least allow people to meet their basic needs," said Sigurdson.
The changes also affect liquor servers, who will earn an additional $1.50 an hour starting in October. By 2016, they will earn the same wage as other minimum wage earners. Currently, employers in Alberta and several other provinces are allowed to pay liquor servers less than the general minimum wage, on the assumption that they get tips.
During the election campaign, Rachel Notley pledged to raise the hourly rate from the current $10.20 to $15, which would take it from the lowest to the highest in Canada. [/QUOTE]
Having a party you voted for do what you want feels pretty good.
Still kind of blows my mind that the NDP came into power in alberta of all places.
Cue the business-types claiming that this will cause some kind of catastrophe* that only those who've spent a couple of years in the right kind of economics/business school are equipped to understand.
*[sp]The rich won't get richer? Oh the humanity![/sp]
[QUOTE=Lambeth;48084902]Still kind of blows my mind that the NDP came into power in alberta of all places.[/QUOTE]
I find it hilarious. Alberta is the last place I expected the NDP.
[QUOTE=MIPS;48084920]I find it hilarious. Alberta is the last place I expected the NDP.[/QUOTE]
if anybody from outside canada is reading this.
Alberta is the oil rich province in Canada, essentially texas north. they just essentially voted one of the most left wing parties in, which is obviously hilariously ironic because not many other provinces (even ones you would think would be that left) have gone that far left wing.
[QUOTE=Lambeth;48084902]Still kind of blows my mind that the NDP came into power in alberta of all places.[/QUOTE]
We're not really that bad of a hick province as our reputation claims. We do have the first (and to my knowledge only) Muslim mayor of a Major North American City. And a lot of the people I've met through work or whatever have been really progressive, but then again I am in Calgary so maybe my view of Alberta is a bit rose-tinted.
[QUOTE=Broguts;48084938]We're not really that bad of a hick province as our reputation claims. We do have the first (and to my knowledge only) Muslim mayor of a Major North American City. And a lot of the people I've met through work or whatever have been really progressive, but then again I am in Calgary so maybe my view of Alberta is a bit rose-tinted.[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/BeruTJJ.jpg[/IMG]
[url]http://www.worldmayor.com/[/url]
Best mayor.
I love Nenshi, he does a great job running Calgary.
I wonder how my work will handle the minimum wage increase. I started at minimum wage three years ago and now am up @ $15, it would suck hard if some new kid on the block gets paid the same as me with none of the responsibilities.
Alberta is Texas North in that sense as well -- Texas is very progressive in the cities, and the further away you get from major metro centers, the more god-fearing gay-fearing tax-hating home-schooling conservative you get. Alberta's cities are quite liberal, it's the tiny communities surrounded by wheat that you might be uncomfortable having a gay picnic in.
Yeah, I don't think people really [i]get[/i] how weird it is for Alberta to be NDP.
It's like... imagine if Oklahoma decided to elect a socialist. It's not far off from that.
There are people the age of the parents of the average Facepuncher who have lived in Alberta their entire lives and never seen a change in government.
That's how big of a deal the NDP win was.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;48085083]There are people the age of the parents of the average Facepuncher who have lived in Alberta their entire lives and never seen a change in government.
That's how big of a deal the NDP win was.[/QUOTE]
I remember the previous election, I was working at a grocery store and a REALLY OLD guy wanted to talk politics. I told him I was voting NDP or Liberal and he held up the line telling me how wrong my political opinions are and that because PC has been in power for such a long time that they would never fuck up.
I wish I actually knew who he was, because I would love to give him a middle finger right now.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;48085083]There are people the age of the parents of the average Facepuncher who have lived in Alberta their entire lives and never seen a change in government.
That's how big of a deal the NDP win was.[/QUOTE]
North Koreas fake puppet political parties had more seats than the opposition to the PC's as a ratio.
I'm from Alberta and I personally welcome our new NDP Overlords.
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;48084987]Alberta is Texas North in that sense as well -- Texas is very progressive in the cities, and the further away you get from major metro centers, the more god-fearing gay-fearing tax-hating home-schooling conservative you get. Alberta's cities are quite liberal, it's the tiny communities surrounded by wheat that you might be uncomfortable having a gay picnic in.[/QUOTE]
Ya except texas's government is dominated by balding gun toting bible thumping white men and a few women that are out of touch with the majority of their state
[QUOTE=Sableye;48090181]Ya except texas's government is dominated by balding gun toting bible thumping white men and a few women that are out of touch with the majority of their state[/QUOTE]
Basically Alberta the day before the sudden NDP election upset? :v:
[QUOTE=Lambeth;48084902]Still kind of blows my mind that the NDP came into power in alberta of all places.[/QUOTE]
It wasn't really unexpected, especially with the oil prices plummeting causing lots of people to lose faith in the Alberta PC's which caused a large amount of those people to vote for either the WRP or the NDP.
That being said, it wasn't entirely oil prices plummeting, the PC's made some incredibly stupid decisions which pissed people off even more causing them to vote for different parties. I know a lot of people that are pissed off the NDP won but we'll see what ends up happening, if it's bad enough we can vote them out.
[editline]30th June 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;48090261]Basically Alberta the day before the sudden NDP election upset? :v:[/QUOTE]
Majority in Alberta wanted a right wing government though lol
[QUOTE=AtomicWaffle;48084919]Cue the business-types claiming that this will cause some kind of catastrophe* that only those who've spent a couple of years in the right kind of economics/business school are equipped to understand.
*[sp]The rich won't get richer? Oh the humanity![/sp][/QUOTE]
Just out of curiosity though, considering I don't know jack shit about economics, what would be the effects of increasing minimum wage?
Shit that's 12 dollars USD
A bit high for minimum wage
[editline]30th June 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Water-Marine;48090326]Just out of curiosity though, considering I don't know jack shit about economics, what would be the effects of increasing minimum wage?[/QUOTE]
Cost of living rises over time because the costs of production (which include labor) goes up, so the producers can no longer offer their product or service at the old price.
Also availability of entry level jobs would shrink a bit, because the price that the employer has to pay for the labor has gone up. People often forget that labor is also a product.
So, raisinghe minimum wage too much would actually damage lower income persons.
The reason why minimum wage exists is to protect against situations such as a flood of immigrant workers working for a lower price than the country's own citizens, which would be undesirable for many reasons. I think in the US there was a lot of controversy because some farmers hired some Mexican immigrant workers for super cheap on the down-low, which is exactly what minimum wage is there to prevent.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;48091178]Shit that's 12 dollars USD
A bit high for minimum wage
[editline]30th June 2015[/editline]
Cost of living rises over time because the costs of production (which include labor) goes up, so the producers can no longer offer their product or service at the old price.
Also availability of entry level jobs would shrink a bit, because the price that the employer has to pay for the labor has gone up. People often forget that labor is also a product.[/QUOTE]
I'm sure the NDP has a way to off set the change for how high the wage is going. Its really not a bad thing because it gets everyone into a decent living conditions if they are working full-time.
[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;48085039]Yeah, I don't think people really [i]get[/i] how weird it is for Alberta to be NDP.
It's like... imagine if Oklahoma decided to elect a socialist. It's not far off from that.[/QUOTE]
I think Texas electing a socialist is a better comparison.
And I don't know if we can really say Alberta is super conservative outside of the cities anymore because a lot of rural ridings in the north did go NDP
[QUOTE=Zeke129;48085083]There are people the age of the parents of the average Facepuncher who have lived in Alberta their entire lives and never seen a change in government.
That's how big of a deal the NDP win was.[/QUOTE]
Do you think things will change in Ontario? I'm from Hamilton with an NDP riding, but politics seem way crazier in Ontario now that I live in the US.
[QUOTE=DELL;48091224]I'm sure the NDP has a way to off set the change for how high the wage is going. Its really not a bad thing because it gets everyone into a decent living conditions if they are working full-time.[/QUOTE]
Yeah I suppose if I were a fresh entry into the labor market that would be really cool for me to get 12 USD an hour, but my worry is that not enough people will get to enjoy wages at all. If NDP really has a solution that can let them have their cake and eat it too, that would be pretty great.
I still think the best solution to the question of a decent living standard would be to adopt policies that let producers output at maximum efficiency, thereby lowering prices and lowering the cost of living overall.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;48091270]Yeah I suppose if I were a fresh entry into the labor market that would be really cool for me to get 12 USD an hour, but my worry is that not enough people will get to enjoy wages at all. If NDP really has a solution that can let them have their cake and eat it too, that would be pretty great.
I still think the best solution to the question of a decent living standard would be to adopt policies that let producers output at maximum efficiency, thereby lowering prices and lowering the cost of living overall.[/QUOTE]
Problem with that is greed will still end up taking over no matter how much they can output. Unless they some how stop producers from just taking more of the money somehow.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;48091178]Shit that's 12 dollars USD
A bit high for minimum wage
[editline]30th June 2015[/editline]
Cost of living rises over time because the costs of production (which include labor) goes up, so the producers can no longer offer their product or service at the old price.
Also availability of entry level jobs would shrink a bit, because the price that the employer has to pay for the labor has gone up. People often forget that labor is also a product.
So, raisinghe minimum wage too much would actually damage lower income persons.
The reason why minimum wage exists is to protect against situations such as a flood of immigrant workers working for a lower price than the country's own citizens, which would be undesirable for many reasons. I think in the US there was a lot of controversy because some farmers hired some Mexican immigrant workers for super cheap on the down-low, which is exactly what minimum wage is there to prevent.[/QUOTE]
Sensible minimum wage increases, at the worst, would have a neutral effect. People like to go on about 'but increasing the minimum wage will increase cost of production and everyone will be worse-off overall'. However the fact is that wages are not the sole variable or even the largest in determining inflation, and yet despite no minimum wage increases in the U.S. for quite some time, there has still been inflation. If nominal wages (face value) do not keep up with inflation, real wages will actually decline because inflation will still lead to higher nominal cost of living and then everyone would actually be worse-off. This is the case in the U.S. where real wages have declined for decades. Someone on the minimum wage 30 years ago would be better off than someone on the minimum wage today.
Minimum wage laws would do jackshit in disincentivising immigrant labour. Why? Because employers could consider such workers as contractors rather than employees, eg they receive a lump sum for performance rather than a rate per hour, so that minimum wage laws are irrelevant. Because they aren't paid a wage. And this does happen, there was a story a while ago of taxi drivers in the U.S. being considered contractors rather than employees, and as such legally being paid less than the minimum wage when their income was averaged over the hours they worked.
[QUOTE=Antdawg;48091374]Sensible minimum wage increases, at the worst, would have a neutral effect. People like to go on about 'but increasing the minimum wage will increase cost of production and everyone will be worse-off overall'. However the fact is that wages are not the sole variable or even the largest in determining inflation, and yet despite no minimum wage increases in the U.S. for quite some time, there has still been inflation. If nominal wages (face value) do not keep up with inflation, real wages will actually decline because inflation will still lead to higher nominal cost of living and then everyone would actually be worse-off.
Minimum wage laws would do jackshit in disincentivising immigrant labour. Why? Because employers could consider such workers as contractors rather than employees, eg they receive a lump sum for performance rather than a rate per hour, so that minimum wage laws are irrelevant. Because they aren't paid a wage. And this does happen, there was a story a while ago of taxi drivers in the U.S. being considered contractors rather than employees, and as such legally being paid less than the minimum wage when their income was averaged over the hours they worked.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the wage needs to be periodically increased to adjust for inflation and changes in the economy, of course.
[quote]Minimum wage laws would do jackshit in disincentivising immigrant labour. Why? Because employers could consider such workers as contractors rather than employees, eg they receive a lump sum for performance rather than a rate per hour, so that minimum wage laws are irrelevant. Because they aren't paid a wage. And this does happen, there was a story a while ago of taxi drivers in the U.S. being considered contractors rather than employees, and as such legally being paid less than the minimum wage when their income was averaged over the hours they worked[/quote]
I forgot you could do that.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;48091387]Yeah, the wage needs to be periodically increased to adjust for inflation and changes in the economy, of course.
[/QUOTE]
I wish that'd happen. If my job as a butcher had its wage properly adjusted for the increase of inflation I should be making twice what I do now.
And increasing the minimum wage isn't going to stop the rich from getting richer, its just going to make them cut costs elsewhere. Mainly in labor because it's the easiest thing to control with the most immediate results in numbers.
[QUOTE=DELL;48091224]Its really not a bad thing because it gets everyone into a decent living conditions if they are working full-time.[/QUOTE]
min wage in ontario is $11/hr right now, i know people clocking 40 hrs a week on minimum wage and they're doing fine even with the godawful prices for rent in this area
[QUOTE=Senscith;48091420]
And increasing the minimum wage isn't going to stop the rich from getting richer, its just going to make them cut costs elsewhere. Mainly in labor because it's the easiest thing to control with the most immediate results in numbers.[/QUOTE]
That's a given. That's why I always get a bit worried when I hear 'raise minimum wage' because this means less jobs.
[QUOTE=polarbear.;48091477]min wage in ontario is $11/hr right now, i know people clocking 40 hrs a week on minimum wage and they're doing fine even with the godawful prices for rent in this area[/QUOTE]
That's nice but Calgary has the highest rent out of all major Canadian cities(as of 2014, google it), second only to Vancouver.
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