Capital News readers were passionate about the fair wage commission hearings that came through Kelowna this week and our story Making the case for and against minimum wage.
Here are some of your comments from our Facebook page.
Jarrod Ng:
Unfortunately raising minimum wage isn’t the answer. I understand the need for a rise in wages but realistically cost of living and wage rise together. That jug of milk you just bought for $5.99 now is going to be $6.99. All your consumables just go up in price. Sure you get more hourly but everything you buy is now raised in price. Cause and effect. Small business owners will be going under and what’s left is the mega stores who then can dictate prices they want. What needs to be evaluated is the actual cost of living and how it can be managed. You have all these corporations like gas companies, hydro, Fortis, ICBC who gouge everyone.
Lynne Zomers:
You have to address costs of everything else going up to compensate. If rent wasn’t so darn high that would be a big help. When rentals take half your pay, it doesn’t leave much for anything else. And forget about ever buying a house.
Susan Thesen:
If minimum wage goes up, so would/should all tiers of wages. Consumers would pay higher costs for products and services. We’d likely see lay-offs, reduced work hours, or even more automation at businesses. The commission must study places that did pass legislation to increase minimum $15/hr wages. End result was less jobs and/or work hours, businesses moving out of the area or just shutting down. End result was it was a win for very few people, with even more people unemployed or underemployed. Government would have to look at regulating commercial profits, rent, reducing gas taxes, before it made any real difference to low wage earners.
Teasha Snave:
$15/hr is low and not a living wage. Problem is minimum wage has not kept up with poverty and it is now a huge problem. Pretty bad when wages today are what many of us made in the 80’s and was considered average then.
Maggie Niewinski:
As a business owner to be able to afford paying my employees $15 per hour l will have to rise the prices of services and merchandise…. I don’t see another way.
Shawnee Bro:
Lower the cost of living. Put caps on profit. Re-disburse excessive profit back into all employees pockets. There needs to be control on profit margins not wages. Something is wrong if employees cannot afford the products they make but the company has millions or billions in profit.
If we do raise the minimum wage, only companies who this really effects should be allowed to raise product pricing. If you can’t prove on your taxes that the change in wages makes a significant impact on your profit then your products should not be raised, they already show they are overpriced if you have that much profit to spare.
Bob Stevenson:
The rich get richer and rest of us hang on for dear life