Halifax Council Mulls Living Wage For Seasonal, Part-Time, And Casual Employees
HALIFAX—Halifax Regional Council has asked city staff to research the cost of paying a living wage to all HRM employees, regardless of their position.
Coun. Shawn Cleary put the motion forward at council’s March 22 meeting.
He asked for a report outlining the cost of paying every employee at least $15 an hour by April of 2023 and a “living wage” by April 2024.
Unlike minimum wages, a “living wage” is what a household must earn to cover its necessities and still enjoy a decent quality of life. According to the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives, the living wage in Halifax is about $22 an hour.
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Cleary asked for staff’s report look at the cost of giving those wages to every employee, including part-time, seasonal, and casual workers.
He pointed out that the provincial government will raise Nova Scotia’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024 so the city is “going to have to pay it anyway.” He said he thinks the HRM should get there first.
As far as the living wage, Cleary said he doesn’t think the city can call itself a top employer without one.
He said he wants clear information about exactly how many employees would qualify for this kind of change and what they are getting paid now.
“I think that information is critical because I don’t know how many employees this covers. I know we have roughly 3,500 regular, full-time employees and every summer we hire 900 or 1,000 of them and many of those don’t make 15 or 20 bucks an hour,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s good enough.”
Cleary’s colleagues on council unanimously supported his call for a report but some expressed reservations about paying employees more.
Coun. Trish Purdy said she is “very concerned about the unintended consequences of enforcing a living wage on all employees.”
“There just seems to be a hesitancy and a warning [with] people I speak to about doing that,” Purdy said.
However, Purdy voted for the report because she said she wants to know what the tax implications would be.
The report will also look at the city’s “multi-district facilities” like the Halifax Forum and Zatzman Sportsplex, which aren’t all staffed by HRM employees, to see if and how increased wages would affect them.
Mayor Mike Savage also said he was in favour of the report but also has some “concerns.”
“If this includes students, for example, I’m not in favor of that. I think full-time employees are a little bit different,” Savage said. “But I think that’s why we need the report.”
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].