City employee living wage increases comes with $3M price tag
CTV
In order to pay what some advocates consider a living wage, a new report says the City of Winnipeg would have to spend more than $3 million more per year.
In order to pay what some advocates consider a living wage, a new report says the City of Winnipeg would have to spend more than $3 million more per year.
Right now, minimum wage in Manitoba is $15.30 per hour.
The report to the Mayor’s Executive Policy Committee looked at the impact of city workers being paid a minimum of $19.21.
This would affect 516 employees, at a cost of $1.75 million per year. The jobs include some 311 customer service staff, library workers, and recreation technicians.
CUPE President Gord Delbridge says a living wage is needed to help pull some of his union members out of poverty.
"We’ve got City of Winnipeg workers that have to access food banks, that are municipal government employees, that are using food banks on a regular basis. That's disturbing,” said Delbridge.
But Mayor Scott Gillingham says the move would be expensive and any salary increases should be negotiated.
