Raising the minimum wage is the wrong answer
Recently Ontario healthcare providers
stepped on their soapbox to announce to
Ontarians that they are prescribing a $14 an
hour minimum wage, stat. Really? This is
one of the more asinine proposals I have
seen, in a world full of asinine ideas.
Dr. Gary Bloch, a family physician at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital and a member of Health Providers Against Poverty, said at a press conference that, “Our government has the power to prescribe better health, not through more drugs or health technologies, but through a legislated living minimum wage.” To that I say hooey. The only thing a minimum wage increase will do is increase the number of Ontarians living in poverty.
First off, there will be widespread job cuts across the province, similar to when minimum wage went from $7.15 to its current $10.25 an hour and an elimination of thousands of entry-level positions, especially in the small business sector, which will scramble to manage costs. If people think they are stressed now, imagine when their $4/hour raise means saying goodbye to some coworkers and an increased workload because they won't be getting replaced.
Second, if you already have a job earning over $14 an hour, guess what, you're not getting a $4 raise, so that whirring you're hearing is your spending power being flushed down the toilet. If this were Utopia and everything were equal, then no worries, but we live in a world where the bottom line trumps all else, so if third-quarter profits from Big Corp. fall from $1 billion to $750 million, well, guess what's going to happen. Prices are going to rise and jobs are going to be cut. That may not mean much to you, but I'll drive the point home for you: if you think going to the dollar store and paying over $1 is funny, imagine then when you'll be lucky to find anything under a toonie. That all said, prices will rise regardless because businesses are not charities and they will need to recover their costs.
Third, if you think it's bad now, when great-paying manufacturing jobs are disappearing in Ontario with constant plant closures, with reasons such as efficiency being cited, code for unsustainable high wages and runaway costs for water and electricity, then imagine what is going to happen to the call centre capital of Canada. London is home to many call centres, but I can't imagine the few that remain will want to stay. With so many Canadian businesses closing their call centres and moving them to places like India and the Philippines, the stragglers will surely follow, and so will all those jobs, many held by students paying their way through school.
So if you're one of those people applauding an increase in the minimum wage, you may want to reconsider your position, especially if you think it will eliminate poverty. It won't. Until larger society realizes that increased costs equals increased pricing we will continue to roll along on the hamster wheel and this discussion will turn into a $20 an hour minimum wage another 10 years down the line. Good luck with that.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Dr. Gary Bloch, a family physician at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital and a member of Health Providers Against Poverty, said at a press conference that, “Our government has the power to prescribe better health, not through more drugs or health technologies, but through a legislated living minimum wage.” To that I say hooey. The only thing a minimum wage increase will do is increase the number of Ontarians living in poverty.
First off, there will be widespread job cuts across the province, similar to when minimum wage went from $7.15 to its current $10.25 an hour and an elimination of thousands of entry-level positions, especially in the small business sector, which will scramble to manage costs. If people think they are stressed now, imagine when their $4/hour raise means saying goodbye to some coworkers and an increased workload because they won't be getting replaced.
Second, if you already have a job earning over $14 an hour, guess what, you're not getting a $4 raise, so that whirring you're hearing is your spending power being flushed down the toilet. If this were Utopia and everything were equal, then no worries, but we live in a world where the bottom line trumps all else, so if third-quarter profits from Big Corp. fall from $1 billion to $750 million, well, guess what's going to happen. Prices are going to rise and jobs are going to be cut. That may not mean much to you, but I'll drive the point home for you: if you think going to the dollar store and paying over $1 is funny, imagine then when you'll be lucky to find anything under a toonie. That all said, prices will rise regardless because businesses are not charities and they will need to recover their costs.
Third, if you think it's bad now, when great-paying manufacturing jobs are disappearing in Ontario with constant plant closures, with reasons such as efficiency being cited, code for unsustainable high wages and runaway costs for water and electricity, then imagine what is going to happen to the call centre capital of Canada. London is home to many call centres, but I can't imagine the few that remain will want to stay. With so many Canadian businesses closing their call centres and moving them to places like India and the Philippines, the stragglers will surely follow, and so will all those jobs, many held by students paying their way through school.
So if you're one of those people applauding an increase in the minimum wage, you may want to reconsider your position, especially if you think it will eliminate poverty. It won't. Until larger society realizes that increased costs equals increased pricing we will continue to roll along on the hamster wheel and this discussion will turn into a $20 an hour minimum wage another 10 years down the line. Good luck with that.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
