The BC Federation of Labour says a new poll shows the public supports the labour organization’s fight to raise the province’s minimum wage from $10.25 to $15 an hour.
According to the poll, 52% of those thought the minimum wage should “definitely” be raised to $15 an hour, while 24% thought it should “probably” be raised.
The respondents were asked:
“The current minimum wage in British Columbia is $10.25/hr (and $9 an hour for liquor servers). As you may know, a number of cities across North America have recently increased their minimum wage to $15 an hour. A $15 an hour minimum wage would finally put a full-time worker above the poverty line. All things considered, do you believe the minimum wage in British Columbia should be increased to $15 an hour?”
The online poll included 801 respondents and was conducted by Insights West. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
“At the current minimum wage, working full-time is not enough to lift a worker out of poverty,” said Jim Sinclair, outgoing president of the BC Federation of Labour.
The BC Federation of Labour calculates that raising B.C.’s minimum wage to $15 would put those workers above Statistic Canada’s low-income cutoff by 10%.
In 2011, B.C. began raising its minimum wage from $8 to $10.25 an hour. It was the first increase to the minimum wage in a decade.
Seattle and San Francisco recently raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour. San Francisco’s current minimum wage was $10.74 an hour, while minimum wage earners in Seattle earned $9.32 an hour.
Wages will gradually rise in both cities. In San Francisco, the $15 an hour wage will not take effect until 2018, while in Seattle businesses with more than 500 employees must phase in the new wage in three years while smaller businesses can take seven years to implement the increase.
Franchise owners in Seattle, who have been lumped in under the large business category, say the increase threatens their businesses.
@jenstden
