(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.
