I’ve been working most of my life. My first job was picking berries for 25 cents/quart at age eight. Before I was 18, I had worked in a summer camp, in a grocery store as a bag boy, as a golf caddy, and even as a door-to-door salesperson.
What was I doing working so hard so young? I wanted to be rich, that’s the truth. Instead, my earnings went to vacations, clothes, and outings with friends. Forgive me if I had a misspent adolescence.
Premier Jason Kenney made a promise in his campaign that he would roll back the NDP government’s increases to the minimum wage, for youth under age 17, and for alcohol servers.
This new pay structure started to take place June 26. The argument is that this will create more jobs as more employers will hire, essentially due to the availability of cheap labour.
In fact, what makes better economic and democratic sense is to pay youth the same as adults. Not all, or even most, kids with jobs are doing it so they can spend their earnings at the mall. Some help support their families, some are planning for education after high school, some are starting their own businesses. Even buying a car helps the economy. Even buying french fries helps the economy. More fries = better economy. They pay taxes on their earnings.
Alcohol servers are supposed to “make up” the difference in the proposed cut to their earnings by earning tips.
So, fairly, when was the last time a CEO earned less salary because they received a bonus at year end?
Paying a living wage should not be dependent on age nor on the possibility of tips. That’s the kind of thinking that was in place in the sweat shops of the early Industrial Era, the 1800s to early 1900s, before labour organizers fought for a five-day work week, workplace safety, and other rights.
Treating any element of society as second-class citizens is a slippery slope. Children should be taught that their contributions to society are valued for what they’re worth, not that their personal value is so they can provide an inexpensive workforce.
Instead of working against the prospects and hopes of soon-to-be enfranchised citizens, the premier should be finding ways to help youth feel like their input to our province and nation is what will build our future.
— Written by Daniel Schiff
