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‘Rally for a Living Wage’ Fights for $15/Hr.

April 14, 2016 7:56 AM | News


Canadian Money - Currency

(Canadian currency image via Shutterstock)

A protest and rally set for Friday will call for a $15 living wage with an accompanying march down Portage Avenue.

“Paying a living wage has a significant return on investment,” said Laura Rempel, spokesperson for Make Poverty History Manitoba.

“Employers and workers alike benefit from reduced turnover and absenteeism, and increased productivity and equality. It is a win-win situation, and it is long overdue.”

Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, says today’s minimum wage of $11/hour leaves workers living in poverty.

“Having a job and working full time hours should be a pathway out of poverty, not a poverty trap,” Rebeck said.

The rally is being organized by an ad-hoc coalition including the Manitoba Federation of Labour, Make Poverty History Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, the Canadian Federation of Students-Manitoba, the Public Service Alliance of Canada-Prairie Region and Solidarity Winnipeg.

It will take place between noon and 1 p.m. on the front lawn of the University of Winnipeg.