A new campaign launched today to raise the minimum wage in the province to $15.00 per hour.
The Common Front For Social Justice kicked off the “Fight for 15 + Justice” campaign today saying 20,900 New Brunswickers work minimum wage jobs.
Common Front Co-Chair Joanne Petitpas says it’s about enabling people to have a decent life.
“It’s very difficult to feed your kids, pay daycare and bring them to school, and even buy groceries at the prices they are,” says Petitpas.
According to the Common Front, almost all of those workers are employed in non-unionized workplaces, mostly in the retail, accommodation, cultural and food services sectors.
Almost half of them worked full time, and 65% of them are 20 years old and older.
Furthermore, 13,100 of the workers were woman, almost twice the number of men at 7,800.
The number of workers receiving minimum wage and working part-time has more than doubled from 4,200 to 11,200 since 2004.
The minimum wage is currently $10.30 – which is the lowest of all the provinces.
