TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 14, 2014) - On April 14th, community members and labour activists will rally outside low-wage employers - including temporary help agencies - in a province-wide day of action to continue the fight for a $14 minimum wage.
"We're highlighting temp agencies because temp workers are frequently minimum wage earners," says Lorraine Ferns, Workers' Action Centre member. "And even when they are paid a bit more than minimum wage, they generally earn 40% less than their directly-hired counterparts doing the same job."
"To make matters worse, temp workers are regularly denied the holiday and overtime pay they are entitled to under the law," says Ferns. The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage points to a recent Ministry of Labour enforcement blitz where 3 out of every 4 temp agencies inspected were found to be in violation of basic employment standards, especially in the area of wages.
"We are taking action on April 14 because the minimum wage is still frozen at $10.25 and a June hike of 75 cents an hour is not nearly enough to lift workers out of poverty," said Motilall Sarjoo of the Peel Regional Labour Council, referring to Premier Kathleen Wynne's announcement that the minimum wage would increase to $11.00 on June 1.
"We still need to push to ensure that the minimum wage is indexed to annual cost of living increases," adds Yvonne Kelly of Freedom 90. "As it stands, with all the election speculation, there's no guarantee that even this modest measure will go through." Legislation to index the minimum wage has been tabled but requires the support of opposition party members to become law.
For more information on the Campaign, visit: www.raisetheminimumwage.ca.
Follow the campaign Twitter account @fairwagesnow and hashtag #14now.
Provincial actions and contacts:
| Guelph | Saturday, April 12, 11:30am - 1:00pm |
| Rally outside Liberty Staffing Solutions | |
| 55 Cork Street East | |
| Denise Martins: (519) 803-2508 | |
| Kitchener | Monday, April 14, 2014, 11am |
| Rallying outside a building that contains three temp agencies! | |
| Meet at Vogelsang Green (Corner of Duke East and Queen North) | |
| Shannon Balla: (613) 220-0554, forspecialdiet@gmail.com | |
| Mississauga | Monday, April 14, 12 pm - 1 pm |
| Rally outside Rockwood Mall | |
| at Dixie and Burnamthorpe | |
| then march to Dipika Demerla's office | |
| Jim Mcdowell: (416) 587-8809; Anthony Tambureno (905) 330-1310 | |
| Thunder Bay | Monday, April 14, 10am |
| Press conference | |
| Faith group representatives join Poverty Free Thunder Bay to urge MPPs to pass bills to protect vulnerable workers before an election is called. | |
| Lakehead Social Planning Council Board Room, Victoriaville | |
| Terri Carter (807) 577-5833; Sara Williamson (807) 683-5669 | |
| Toronto | Monday, April 14, 12:30pm |
| Rally outside one of Canada's largest temp agencies | |
| 483 Bay Street (Queen and Bay St.) | |
| Sonia Singh: (647) 235-6912, sonia@workersactioncentre.org | |
| York Region | Monday April 14, 11:30am - 1:30pm |
| "Supersizing" our Action on Raising the Minimum Wage | |
| Meet at McDonald's - 1100 Davis Drive, Newmarket, ON | |
| Actions will be taken at McDonalds as well as nearby Wendy's, and Tim Horton's all on the Davis Strip east of Leslie | |
| Kristine Carbis (289) 338-3149 |
The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Peel Regional Labour Council, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Unifor and Workers' Action Centre.
Contact Information:
Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage
(647) 235-6912 or (416) 531-0778, ext. 221
sonia@workersactioncentre.org