Local employers split on idea of wage hike
Posted May 30, 2017 06:17:43 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
While ensuring minimum wage earners get paid a living wage is a positive step forward, some local businesses are worried about how a hike to $15 an hour will affect their bottom line.
In the region of Waterloo, you need to be earning at least $15.42 an hour to make ends meet, according to Anne Coleman with Living Wage Waterloo Region. But Art Sinclair with the KW Chamber of Commerce tells 570 News an increase in minimum wage is a fixed cost, regardless of whether or not employers are making more money at the cash register.
He says that means small businesses having to pay out an increased minimum wage could actually be a step backwards for the local workforce, citing potential job loses.
“I think what a lot of businesses are going to have to look at is, with these increased costs, can I bring in new employees?” he says. “And if these costs are excessive, we’re going to have a lot of problems getting people back into or starting into the labour force.”
But Coleman says getting paid a living wage outweighs any unintended consequences of the reforms.
“I believe that when workers in our community are making a little bit extra that money is coming back into our local economy,” she says.
But just how will a wage hike fare two years from now, when the cost of living is also expected to rise?
“It’s hard to say what the fluctuation will be,” says Coleman. “But my best guess is that it will continue to increase with the rate of inflation and the cost of living.”
