Who Earns Minimum Wage?
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- Published on Tuesday, 28 June 2016 22:30
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1276 .... June 29, 2016
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Who Earns Minimum Wage?
Angella MacEwen
Minimum wages have been getting a lot of attention lately. And for good reason. Workers earning minimum wage often struggle to get enough hours, don't have predictable schedules or advance notice of shifts, and many don't even have access to unpaid sick days.
Alberta's current government was elected on a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2018, and the Nova Scotia NDP recently tabled a bill that would have the minimum wage increase each January, eventually reaching $15 in 2019.
How many people even earn minimum wage? Well if you take everyone earning less than the primary minimum wage, there were 1,253,000 workers earning minimum wage or less in 2015 (many provinces have exceptions... or lower wages for students or alcohol servers).