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Battleground ridings targeted on Campbell's minimum wage freeze
May 7, 2009
Voters in key ridings are being asked to consider the Campbell government's record on the minimum wage as they decide who to support in Tuesday's provincial election.
Brochures are being mailed this week to homes in Vancouver, Burnaby, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Surrey, Maple Ridge and Mission.
The brochure asks: "Guess who gave himself a $65,000 raise?"
"Gordon Campbell has frozen the minimum wage for eight long years. He doesn't want to talk about it, but we'll make sure he can't hide his record from voters this election," says Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour. "Gordon Campbell said his government didn't need to raise the minimum wage when the economy was creating jobs. Now that we are losing jobs by the tens of thousands, he says we can't afford to raise it. A vast majority of voters disagree with him and believe an increase is long overdue."
BC's minimum wage was the highest in Canada when Gordon Campbell was first elected Premier in 2001. Frozen for eight years, it is now tied for lowest in the country with New Brunswick and PEI, both of which have planned increases for later this year. By Labour Day, BC will have the lowest minimum wage in Canada.
"Report after report dismiss the wildly inflated job loss numbers that business leaders say would result if the minimum wage was increased to $10 an hour," Sinclair added.
Because of the high cost of living, BC has long had the lowest minimum wage in terms of buying power. Approximately 293,000 workers in BC earn $10 per hour or less. In 2007, Gordon Campbell voted himself a 54 percent pay raise which took his annual salary to $186,000.
To see the brochure click here.
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For more information: Evan Stewart, Director of Communications (604) 430-1421.
