(Montréal) Proponents of a steeper increase in the minimum wage are not giving up; they met on Monday with the Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, who has just announced an increase that will take it from $14.25 to $15.25 an hour on 1er may.
The members of the Minimum 18 $ coalition were there: the FTQ, the CSN, the CSQ, the CSD (Central of democratic unions), the APTS (Alliance of professional and technical personnel in health and social services) and the SPGQ (Union of Professionals of the Government of Quebec), then the Front for the Defense of Non-Union Members and the Collective for a Quebec Without Poverty.
Proponents of a minimum wage of $18 an hour argue that this is a minimum for a decent living, even when working full time.
When he announced this increase, the Minister of Labor explained that he also had to take into account the ability of small and medium-sized businesses to pay. You have to “find a balance”, he repeated.
Other factors are taken into account in determining the minimum wage rate, in addition to the increase in the purchasing power of workers, such as the number of vacancies, the incentive to work and the fact of not encourage school dropouts, argued Minister Boulet.
In an interview after the meeting, Virginie Larivière, spokesperson for the Collective for a Poverty-Free Quebec, said she was convinced that there was room for maneuver to increase the minimum wage more markedly.
But the Minister has already recalled that he must maintain “the balance”. And the Legault government has already argued that it sent checks to millions of taxpayers to deal with rising prices.
“Obviously, issuing checks to offset inflation is clearly not a solution that helps or changes anything in the lives of people living in poverty,” retorted Mr.me River.
She hammers home the same message: $15.25 per hour on the 1er May, “it’s not enough”.