The increase in the general minimum wage will benefit 301,100 people in Quebec, according to figures from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity. For tip workers, the minimum wage will rise to $ 11.40 an hour, an increase of 60 cents. It should also be noted that the minimum wage paid to a raspberry or strawberry picker is $ 4.23 (+ $ 0.22) and $ 1.13 (+ $ 0.06) per kilo, respectively. according to the Ministry of Labor.
SMALL BUSINESSES hurt
Employers point out that this 5.56 percent increase in the minimum wage represents an additional cost of $ 237.1 million for businesses, which worries the Canadian Independent Business Association (CFIB), which notes that this new increase comes in a fragility framework of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are affected by rising costs. The two years of health restrictions have left an average debt burden of $ 108,000 per SME in Quebec, as well as incomes below the exchange rate for the most part. “The reality is that their ability to absorb cost increases is not infinite,” François Vincent, CFIB Vice President for Quebec, told a news conference. At least 60 percent of SMEs believe the cost increases have a significant negative impact on their business, said the SME group, which has 95,000 members in all sectors and regions. Vincent’s said, “this will have a clear impact on entrepreneurs who have no choice but to raise prices.” The CFIB believes there are other solutions within the Quebec government to help employers offer better pay conditions to their employees, such as offering tax breaks to SMEs or reducing payroll taxes.
WORKERS ARE BECOMING POORER
Collective for a Poverty-Free Quebec has a different view. He says the 75-cent increase in the minimum hourly wage is “irresponsible and offensive to the hundreds of thousands of workers living in poverty who are losing more and more of their purchasing power every day.” “With the ridiculous increase in the minimum wage, the government is not only refusing to help these people get out of poverty, but is watching them get poorer without being intimidated,” said Virginie Larivière, a spokeswoman for the group. He pointed out that this increase in the minimum wage does not even offset the impact of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which rose by 6.7 percent from March 2021 to March 2022 in Quebec, “unprecedented in the last 30 years ». “Last November, Quebec Food Banks reminded us that the number of working-income people who used their services increased by 40 percent due to the pandemic and high inflation,” he said. “Everything suggests that the trend is not going to be reversed and the government is washing its hands of it!” Since last fall, the Collective for a Poverty-Free Quebec, which includes 36 organizations, has been demanding a minimum wage of at least $ 18 an hour.
DEFICIENCY, SOLIDARITY KUBEK
Alexandre Leduc, Québec Solidaire’s representative for the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, also criticized the Legault’s completely outdated vision for the minimum wage in Quebec. “Every week, I come across companies that record import wages above the minimum wage,” Leduc said. “These companies have come to understand something that the government still does not understand: a sustainable minimum wage is one way to combat recruitment difficulty, because it makes low-wage jobs more attractive.” One month ago, Labor Minister Jean Boulet suggested that the minimum wage could exceed $ 15 an hour by 2023. According to the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve MNA, the long-standing token amount is no longer relevant. “Honestly! $ 15, we needed it five years ago. It’s not a viable salary today,” he said. “We have been talking about the cost-of-living crisis for months. Does Mr Boulet believe that people with a minimum wage are immune to an increase in all basic goods? I have the misfortune to say that this is not the case and that today, a decent minimum wage is $ 18 per hour “. – This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 1, 2022.
