In an age where university is so essential to sucess and thus early jobs are so important, the unopposed Liberal government in this province has recently passed legislation stating that:

Minimum wage for the first 500 hours of a job in which the worker has not previously performed has been lowered to $6/hr from $7.60/hr.

What does this mean to us young people in this province? Basically, if you get a job at McDonalds or something that pays minimum wage, you will only make $6/hr, a wage that in my opinion is comparable to a sweat-shop wage. If you already earn minimum wage, your pay will remain as it is at $7.60/hr. Those stuck in the $6/hr pay rate will not receive a raise until 500 hours have been worked. For a student who works part time at McDonalds, that could take years. Does it really take 500 hours to train someone at McDonalds? No.

I am very glad that my job in the Air Force will take me out of this province permanantly in 8 months. Alberta, here I come!

Discuss.

 

Personally I think it might actually be a good idea- in major urban centres- not in the interior. There are a lot of businesses in the city desperate for minimum wage type workers. By offering slightly more than places like McD's and Wendy's they might actually be able to lure workers to them...

 

I think the real problem with this legislation is that it might be too easy for the employers use it as a ongoing cost minimizing measure. What I mean to say is, if the employers are hireing the people(this does not only apply to "young" workers) and then right before their 500 hours are up they fire them and rehire someone else just to get around paying the first employee a fair wage. There must be some kind of protection in there to safeguard against this. I really hope that the government has thought this all the way through and not just purely sold out the workers of a otherwise awsome place to live.

 

There is no protection against firing someone who's worked, say, 490 hours. However, employers say it costs more to train someone new, so they won't. However, let's be realistic. How much does it cost exactly to train a student to work in fast food, or in a clothing store, or other places where they work? Not very much.