The minimum wage in Newfoundland and Labrador is going up to $13.20 per hour on April first, but one advocacy group that has been pushing for a higher wage doesn’t believe the increase is enough.
When asked if the increase is sufficient, Chair of Common Front NL Alyse Stewart simply responded “not at all.”
She says that in 2018 the group 15 and Fairness NL was launched with the goal of getting the province to a $15 per hour minimum wage. But, that was four years ago and the province is still “lagging behind” a lot of the country, says Stewart.
She says $13.20 is not a living wage. Further, she argues that even if the province gets closer to wages offered in the rest of Atlantic Canada that doesn’t make those provinces right either. The focus, she says should be achieving a wage that everyone can afford to live on.
Meanwhile, provincial NDP leader Jim Dinn is echoing Stewart’s comments. He says while the increase is welcomed news, it is not clear if it will be enough to cover last year’s inflation. Dinn says for too long the economy has favoured profits and margins, which has left workers to suffer.
