The Minimum Wage Bump

By Spencer Yarnell Head of Spreading the Herd Word

Good news! A whole lot of people are getting raises!

Bad news! A whole lot of people are getting raises!

Wherever you stand on the issue the fact remains that as of October 1st this year minimum wage in Manitoba will be $10.25 so all employers are gonna have to pony up. Like it or not.

The age old argument centers around the concept of who puts more money into the economic system. Employers by succeeding and therefore hiring more employees, or employees getting more money with the thought that employers may not be able to hire as many employees.

Personally I’m in favour of minimum wage increases, one, because it makes sense that as inflation drives the value of the dollar to drop we need to make sure workers are just a s fairly compensated as before, so in this way we need to understand that this is not so much an increase in minimum wage as it is keeping it the same in terms of value. My second reason is related to my first and its because, corporate tax breaks have never strongly encouraged hiring, (only profits), and if we consider inflation, not increasing minimum wage is tantamount to cutting companies a tax break which as I said above doesn’t positively impact the country as a whole. Now before heading to my final reason I will admit that given the 1.3 % inflation rate in Canada for 2012, clearly only justifies about a 13 cent increase to minimum wage not a 25 cent increase. Okay so you got me mathematically. My third reason, and justification for the last 12 cents of the increase is this: Those jobs are generally tough. Having been recently graduated from University and high school I know what a minimum wage job entails. The people who work those jobs often deserve far better compensation than they receive. Besides, I am far more likely to believe that a person working a minimum wage job is going to spend their money, and put it back into the economy, as opposed to the billionaire who hoards.

Regardless of opinions as of October 1st, IBEX will take all the employees of customers in Manitoba currently making below $10.25 an hour and raise them up to $10.25 an hour in accordance with the new law.

Goatbuzzter out.

IBEX Payroll extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.

Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.

This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.