Susan Thompson
Smoky River Express
Albertans making minimum wage will have 40 cents an hour extra on their pay cheques starting next month.
The province is raising the minimum wage from $8.40 an hour to $8.80 an hour on Apr. 1, 2009.
This year’s five per cent increase is part of a policy introduced in 2007, when provincial government announced it would increase the minimum wage every year based on the percentage increase of the weekly wage in the previous year. Government policy states that if Alberta’s average weekly earnings remain the same or decrease from one year to the next, the minimum wage will remain the same.
The upcoming change will make Alberta’s minimum wage the second-highest of all the provinces until July, when similar increases go into effect in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland.
“We want to ensure Albertans earning minimum wage are as protected as possible during these changing times,” said Alberta Employment Minister and MLA for Dunvegan-Central Peace Hector Goudreau. “While a majority of Albertans earn much more than the minimum wage, we can’t forget about those in lower-income occupations.”
But some industry groups have criticized government for raising minimum wage during a recession. Both the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) say raising minimum wage will mean increasing costs for small businesses at a time when many are already struggling to survive.
“Imposing a sudden minimum wage increase on thousands of small businesses in Alberta when sales are declining will hurt the very people it is intended to help,” says Mark von Schellwitz, Vice President Western Canada with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA). “Restaurant owners will be forced to cut hours to control their costs and employees will end up earning less. This is true for roughly one third of our employees who earn far more in gratuity income than wage income. For them, losing hours will translate not only into a loss of wage income, but more significantly into a loss of tipped income.”
However, local businesses say they generally pay more than minimum wage anyway. The average wage in Alberta is $23.90.
Marc Desaulniers of A & M Confectionary does have some minimum wage employees, but is not concerned about the change to minimum wage increasing his costs. He says he already pays the older employees who work for him more than minimum wage.
Desaulniers says it’s important to take care of good employees.
“We take care of our girls, we give them bonuses, sometimes we go fill up their gas tank,” He adds that cutting hours is also out of the question. “We’re open 5 am to 11 pm so we can’t cut hours.”
Sammy’s Steak and Pizza manager Gariq “Tony” Vutt, says he pays his employees more than minimum wage.
“It doesn’t affect my business.”
Vutt thinks the increase will help a lot of people.
“I think the way everything is going up, like all the prices for groceries and all that, people are having hard time living on it,” he says. “I think that it’s a good idea, and will help a lot of people to make a little better living.”
“It will help the economy.”
Monir Mughal, owner of Kan’s Corner Confectionary & Luncheon Meats in Donnelly, also already pays his employees more than minimum wage, so doesn’t think the change will affect his business either.
“Everybody is paying more than minimum wage anyway,” he says. “People who are getting minimum should be getting a little more.”
He agrees that it might help the economy if some employees are making more.
“If they don’t have it, they are not going to spend it.”
The raise in minimum wage affects about 20,000 workers in Alberta, most of whom are 15 to 19 years old and employed in the hospitality industry.
