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Pitt Meadows looks at living wage

Living Wage for Families Campaign seeks $20.64 per hour.
18288mapleridgeDeannaOgle.w
Deanna Ogle

Pitt Meadows councillors are voicing support for a new living wage policy that would see city employees and contract staff paid a minimum of $20.64 per hour, including benefits.

Deanna Ogle, the campaign organizer for the Living Wage for Families Campaign, appeared before council on June 14 to lobby for the policy.

She started with an anecdote about growing up in a family where both parents worked more than full-time hours to get by. When her mother got a job as a support worker at a local hospital, a job that paid a living wage, she took the family out for supper to celebrate.

“Order anything you want off the menu,” said the matriarch.

Ogle and her siblings exchanged startled expressions, not sure what to make of the situation.

“I did what all children do in these situations, and I ordered ribs,” she said.

She said the new job was a big change for her family.

“[Mom] was able to provide us with what we needed to make ends meet, and she was incredibly proud of her job and incredibly proud of her work.”

B.C. is the only province that does not have a poverty reduction plan, and Ogle noted that the majority of children living in poverty have a working parent.

Pitt Meadows has a child poverty rate of 13 per cent, she said, which is below the provincial average of almost 21 per cent.

There are about 470 children living in poverty in Pitt Meadows now, said Ogle.

“It’s an opportunity to take leadership on poverty in your community,” she added.

Mayor John Becker said he did not agree with her assessment on poverty levels in Pitt Meadows.

He also asked why Ogle and her organization are not lobbying the province for a minimum wage increase.

“Why the target to local government, and why not the provincial government, whose job it is to set the minimum wage – not us,” he said

Ogle answered that her research comes from Statistics Canada, and said her group is among those asking Victoria to do more to fight poverty.

“We do call on the provincial government both for a poverty reduction plan, as well as for a $15 minimum wage.”

However, she added that employers also have a role to play in working against poverty, and municipalities are often the largest employer in their community.

There are 27 factors affecting child development, and 80 per cent of them improve with increased family resources, she said.

“When we provide families with enough money to meet their expenses, children do well,” said Ogle.

From an employer’s perspective, a living wage is a combination of benefits and wages – a good benefits package would reduce the living wage for employees by $2 to $3 per hour.

She asked council to pass a motion to pursue a living wage policy, joining New Westminster, Vancouver, Port Coquitlam and Parksville. Quesnel is also expected to pass such a motion later this month.

So far, New Westminster is the only municipality to enact a full living wage policy.

Coun. Tracy Miyashita asked why, in eight years of the Living Wage campaign, there has only been one city across Canada to take it on.

“What are the concerns being raised in other communities?” asked Miyashita.

Ogle answered that other cities are making progress toward a policy, but it is a multi-year process to become a living wage employer.

“It was a big idea,” she said, and that most municipalities didn’t want to be seen to be irresponsible with taxpayer’s money.

“A lot of municipalities took a wait-and-see approach,” she said, and they were watching New West. “We’ll let them run off ahead, and see if they fall.”

Couns. Dave Murray, Bill Dingwall and Janis Elkerton all voiced support.

“We do have a role in where we give our contracts,” said Elkerton. “At the end of the day, we can ensure that our employees are being treated well and not being paid minimum wage to do a job where maybe somewhere else in the private sector they are being paid 30 per cent more.”

Dingwall said the cost of living in the Lower Mainland is high, “and it’s clearly difficult for a lot of folks.”

He noted that a number of U.S. states have implemented a $15 minimum wage.

Ogle suggested a three-step process: pass a motion for staff to report on the financial implications and positive effects of a living wage policy; develop an implementation plan; implement the plan.

The most complicated part is in city procurement, and she recommended the city establish reasonable thresholds to review contracts, such those for a minimum of $20,000, for example. She also suggested the city pay attention to procurement contracts where there may be issues, such as cleaning services.

Murray noted that in New West, there was a fear that contractors would not want to do business with the city if required to meet the living wage standard. However, 157 out of 158 contractors returned.

Ogle noted that a threshold of 120 hours per year should be minimum service to the city before the policy kicked in.

Coun. Bruce Bell asked what could be done with collective agreements, and Ogle suggested that as contract expire, the city could renegotiate with a living wage.

She suggested New West, which decided to become Canada’s first living wage city in 2011, is a good resource. When that city puts out a request for proposals, any bidder must sign an agreement committing itself to a living wage, and consent to audit where there are complaints from employees. If found in violation of the agreement, a contractor gets the opportunity to reimburse an employee or have the contract cancelled.

So far, there have been four complaints.

“It’s not something that takes up a lot of staff time,” said Ogle.

All permanent city staff in Pitt Meadows are paid more than or close to the living wage, and chief administrative officer Mark Roberts estimated it would have minimal impact on the city payroll.

Murray, who works for the parks department at the City of Port Coquitlam and is a CUPE member, expects that the item will be on a coming council agenda, with a motion to ask staff to report on the impacts of a living wage policy.

Port Coquitlam saw a $40,000 cost increase by adopting the policy.

Given that it is several times the size of Pitt Meadows, Murray said he would expect the cost to the city to be $12,000.

Inviting public feedback from the audience, council heard from Maureen Robertson.

“If it effects one person, then it’s a good thing,” she said. “I, as a taxpayer, think it’s a good idea.”

 



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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