A Fair Minimum Wage for Manitoba
This past summer, I had an opportunity to be a camp counsellor at the annual Canadian Labour
Congress Kids Kamp on the shores of Clear Lake. Every year, workers from throughout Manitoba send
their children to the week-long camp to learn about the labour movement and its place in Canadian
society. The camp has the unique feature of allowing the campers (workers) a negotiated contract
with the counsellors (management) outlining bed times, snacks, recreation times, learning times, and a
grievance procedure.
Aside from orienteering, nature hikes, and canoeing, the campers are given lessons on labour
history, equity and human rights, workplace safety and health, and a topic du jour. This year, given
many of them will soon be entering the workforce, minimum wage was selected for discussion and
study.
To help the students better understand what it’s like to live on minimum wage, a few luxuries
had to be introduced to the camp. The campers were treated to some technology and shown an
episode of Morgan Spurlock’s television show, 30 Days. The premise of Spurlock’s series was to
immerse a person in a world (within the U.S.) completely different from their own. For example,
a Christian stays with a Muslim family or a straight man lives in a gay community, all for 30 days.
Spurlock’s flagship episode put himself and his fiancée, Alexandra, in the world of minimum wage
earners for 30 days.
30 days on minimum wage. Could you live on the US minimum wage of $5.15/hr? Spurlock and
his fiancée discovered how difficult it was and fast. Scrimping by on a steady diet of beans and rice, the
two held down jobs in the service sector and the temporary manual labour field. They lived in a run-
down area of Columbus where ants were their roommates and crack dealers their neighbours. As
owning a car was out of the question, public transportation and walking were the only modes of
transport, while cabs ate heavily into the monthly budget. Compounding the problem was the reality of
no medical insurance. The bills incurred would take months to pay off. All in all, the experience was no
cake walk. The two concluded that it was untenable for anyone to live on minimum wage at its current
level. His fiancée pleaded with viewers at the end that “America could do better” for its workers.
The episode was an eye-opener for the campers. Being between 10-15 years of age, many of
them realized that they will soon be joining the workforce, and as younger workers, they too would be
filling minimum wage jobs. Granted, there are stark differences between working and living conditions
in the U.S. and Canada. Unlike the U.S., Canada has universal health care, which would have alleviated
the medical bills incurred by the two minimum wage guinea pigs. But there are other medical expenses
that would still hit Canadian minimum wage earners pockets hard such as prescription drugs, eye care
and dental care. Nevertheless, these students got it. They realized that even on Manitoba`s minimum
wage of $9.50/hr (rising to $10/hr Oct. 1), workers were still falling behind and living well below the
poverty line.
If 10 to 15 years old get it, why don’t 40 to 50 year old politicians get it? Why is it some
politicians who make $50/hr can dictate whether someone deserves $10/hr. Manitoba workers deserve not only a decent minimum wage, but also a living wage. Let’s do better for Manitoba workers and
see that bar raised to 60% of the average wage. That would bring us to $11.80/hr. Let’s keep moving
forward on minimum wage, because we can indeed do better.
- Dave Sauer, President, Winnipeg Labour Council
