FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2014
MEDIA RELEASE
Day of Action Across Ontario to Call for $14 Minimum Wage and a Fair Jobs Agenda
(TORONTO/ONTARIO) – This Family Day weekend, community members and labour activists will continue to call on Premier Kathleen Wynne to raise the minimum wage to $14 and ensure decent work for Ontario families by implementing a “fair jobs agenda.”
“Ontarians have been demanding a $14 minimum wage because that’s what it takes to lift workers out of poverty. Premier Kathleen Wynne’s recent announcement of a 75 cent hike to the minimum wage is still not enough to live on,” says Anita Khanna of Ontario Campaign 2000. “At $11 an hour, minimum wage earners remain 16 percent below the poverty line, locking many families into poverty.”
“It’s not too late for Premier Wynne to choose the high road of decent work and decent pay for all,” says Sid Ryan, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour. “To get there, the Ontario government must implement a fair jobs agenda that includes a $14 minimum wage, clamp down on temporary agencies, enforcement of labour standards everywhere, fairness for migrant workers and new measures to make it easier for workers to join unions.”
“We must also reject corporate fear mongering that putting money into workers’ pockets will hurt the economy. Raising the minimum wage means Ontario families will have more money to spend in local communities—and that helps all of us,” says Denise Martins, from Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage –Guelph and Ontario Federation of Labour Vice-President (Young Workers). “A $14 minimum wage would inject about $5 billion annually into Ontario communities.”
“Food and rent keeps going up and keeping our pay low makes life impossible,” says Grace Iyobosa, an ACORN member who will be leading a rally in Ottawa this Saturday. “We will keep fighting for a $14 minimum wage, for our kids and for our communities.”
Actions for a $14 minimum wage and decent work will be taking place in communities across Ontario. Over the month of February, campaign supporters will also be visiting MPPs across the province.
For more information on the campaign, visit: www.raisetheminimumwage.ca.
Follow the campaign Twitter account @fairwagesnow and hashtag #14now.
Provincial actions and contacts:
Burlington – Tuesday, Feb. 18, 12-2pm
Outreach blitz – Bus terminal, John and Lakeshore Rd W.
Cathy Stokes: cmordue.55@gmail.comGuelph:
Saturday, Feb. 15, 1-2 pm
Rally: Guelph Families Deserve a Raise – Edinburgh and Stone Rd. W
Denise Martins: (519) 803-2508Hamilton – Saturday, Feb. 15, 12 pm
Picket outside McDonald’s, 50 Dundurn Street South
Ryan Sparrow: (905) 923-0411, rjsparrow@gmail.comOttawa – Saturday, Feb. 15, 12pm
Rally outside Toys R Us – 1683 Merivale Rd.
Jill O’Reilly, Ottawa ACORN: (613) 808-6523, onacornot@acorncanada.orgToronto – Saturday, Feb. 15, 1:15pm
Rally for $14: Ontario Families Deserve a Rais – Dundas Square (Dundas and Yonge)
Sonia Singh: (647) 235-6912, sonia@workersactioncentre.org
The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and Workers’ Action Centre.
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario.
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For information:
Sonia Singh, Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage
(647) 235-6912 or (416) 531-0778, ext. 221 or sonia@workersactioncentre.org
Joel Duff, Ontario Federation of Labour
(416) 707-0349 or jduff@ofl-org.flywheelsites.com
