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Is a $15 minimum wage good? (13 photos)

The Chamber of Commerce says no, Employment Solutions says maybe, and 13 minimum wage workers give their opinion

On Tuesday, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn announced a plan to raise the provinces’ minimum wage to $14 by January 1, 2018 followed by another increase to $15 by 2019.

That same day, the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce put out a press release deriding the plan.

"The expectation that small business can absorb a 23-per-cent increase in minimum wage in a six-month period, followed by a further jump to $15 / hour just 12 months later, with no impact on job growth is a clear demonstration that there is an obvious disconnect between the Ontario government and the province’s businesses," said the release.

Chamber Executive Director Rory Ring said the planned wage increases will accelerate inflation as businesses will have to raise prices to keep up with their employment costs — essentially canceling out any extra benefits that a minimum wage person would gain from increased income.

“If you think about a place like Sault Ste. Marie . . . the worst thing is that businesses will not be able to pass that cost on because of the competitive nature of being a border community and having to compete with the U.S. and online shopping that is shipped . . . and picked up. Businesses are then faced with either not hiring, shrinking their employment footprint, or closing their doors,” said Ring.

Tony Schoahs, director of employer and job seeker services agency Employment Solutions, recognized the challenges that an increased minimum wage puts on small businesses but also said it may be possible to work through those challenges.

He said increased minimum wage will mean more people will want to fill some of the job vacancies already available.

“We have a number of entry-level job postings that week after week, month after month are unfilled. There is one reason for that and it’s probably related to the minimum wage pay,” said Schoahs. “I think smaller businesses are probably going to struggle with that impact to their finances to some extent but perhaps some increased support from wage subsidies from the provincial government will help offset that stress on the small business.”

Ring said the government could curb the negative effects of a minimum wage increase by offering more and higher employment subsidies for small businesses that take on employees.

According to information from the Algoma Workforce Investment Corporation, 30 per cent of the Sault's workforce classifies itself as 'Sales and Service' and the local median hourly wage for this classification is $14.

According to their statistics this means 50% of that job classification would be impacted by the increase and just in that category alone that would mean 15 per cent of the city's workforce would see an hourly pay increase — though the overall total of impacted Sault workers would undoubtedly be higher.

Algoma Workforce Investment Corporation also stated that based on available information, around 25 per cent of the Sault's workforce is part-time.

They stated that part-time employees generally make less than full time workers and it's likely that this category will be effected by the increase.

SooToday spoke with a random and available selection of minimum wage workers.

Some were pleased with the idea but most seemed worried that it would cause inflation and make it difficult for small businesses.

“It will definitely hurt smaller businesses — it will kill payroll — but it will help people living on minimum wage buy groceries. So it’s good and bad,” said Joel Soltys, a pizza maker at Mrs. B’s.

“As an employee, right off the bat I’m a little excited. But when I look at the bigger picture I see some issues on the way for sure. With prices going up it is definitely a concern for the community. There is good and bad to both sides of it,” said Autumn Dear, a cashier at Stackburger.

"I think it’s a good thing because . . . it’s making more money for students and they can use that to go away to university and save money for their future careers," said Riley Coventry, a high school student who is working part time as a cashier at the Smoke Shop in the Market Mall.

See the gallery above for a wider range of comments from local employees.


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Jeff Klassen

About the Author: Jeff Klassen

Jeff Klassen is a SooToday staff reporter who is always looking for an interesting story
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