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Hawkesbury has plan to fix minimum wage crisis
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
He also noted that he and other business owners will have to figure out how to reco- ver the cost of those wage increase through either increases in the price of their goods and services or else possible cuts in staffing numbers or hours worked. He also noted that Hawkesbury businesses face competi- tion from across the river in Québec which does not have the same minimum wage as Ontario. “This isn’t a small, easily digestible inc- rease,” he said. “It is huge, and it puts many businesses at risk if they are unable to pass on these increases.” Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce, with support of its counterparts elsewhere in Prescott-Russell and also from the Ontario Chambers of Commerce and the Canadian Chambers of Commerce, has developed an alternative proposal to the minimumwage section of Bill 148. The Ontariominimumwage level would still increase to $15 an hour but would do so over a five-year span and not crammed into two years. The chambers of commerce all believe this gradual phasing in of a $15 an hour minimumwage will give both the business sector and alsomunicipalities time to review and revamp their budget planning to accom- modate the increase. The UCPR council voted that it will sup- port the five-year minimumwage planwhich Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce will forward to the provincial government. L’HEURE POUR LA PUBLICATIO LE VENDREDI AVAN Action DEA FOR THE OCTOBER FRIDAY OCT. 6 Thank
No one is arguing against raising themini- mumwage in Ontario. Both business and labour groups agree that an increase is long overdue.The question is how to keep that increase from breaking the back of small business andHawkesbury Chamber of Commerce thinks that it has the solution. Last week Antonios Tsourounakis, pres- ident of the Hawkesbury Chamber of Com- merce, led a delegation for his own group and other chambers of commerce in the Prescott-Russell region, to air their concerns to the United Counties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR) about Bill 148, the provincial government’s plan for increasing the mini- mum wage in Ontario and also deal with other issues affecting employees’ privileges and rights in the workplace. Tsourouna- kis emphasized that he and other business owners support seeing an increase to Onta- rio’s minimumwage but they worry that the provincial government is rushing things and that Bill 148 will hurt more than help both small businesses and their employees. “No one can be against helping those at the bottom rung of society,” Tsourounakis said told UCPR council during its Sept. 27 session. “No one is against paying people a fair wage, and perhaps $15 is the right number, a number we should aspire to. But how do we get to there from here?” In January 2018 the minimum wage in Ontario goes to $14 an hour with a further increase a year later to $15. Both the busi- ness sector and many municipalities fear that such a rapid increase in the minimum wage could wreak havoc with their budgeting plans and could result in either reduced hours or layoffs for both full-time and part- time and casual staff. Tsourounakis, who owns and operates the Déja Vu bistro in Hawkesbury, used his own experience as a restaurateur to illustrate the potential impact on his staffing budget
L’année prochaine, le salaire minimum en Ontario s’élèvera à 14 $ l’heure, puis à 15 $ l’année. De nombreux propriétaires de petites entreprises et aussi des municipalités craignent que cela ne fasse des ravages avec leur planification budgétaire et pourrait même entraîner des mises à pied ou des heures réduites pour certains travailleurs. La Chambre de commerce de Hawkesbury et ses homologues du reste de Prescott- Russell ont une solution possible qui permettrait d’augmenter la répartition du salaire minimumsur une période de cinq ans plutôt que de s’accrocher à une période de deux ans, comme le prévoit le gouvernement provincial. —photo d’archives
employees at other businesses will all expect raises once the new minimum wage level takes effect next January and again a year later when the minimum wage rises again.
from the provincial government’s plans for raising the minimum wage. “In my kitchen only the starting dis- hwashers are paidminimumwage at $11.40. The rest of the crew is paid $12.50 for new line cooks, $14 for those cooks with some experience, $16.50 for those that have been with me for many years, $18 for those just belowmy chef, and at the top, my head chef whomakes in excess of $20 an hour. On Jan. 1 when the new minimum wage is $14, do you think that my experienced cooks, those making $14 right now, will be happy that a raw recruit off the street who joins as a dishwasher and earns the same as them?” Tsourounakis noted that his staff and
L’HEURE DE TOMBÉE POUR LA PUBLICATION DU 11 OCTOBRE SERA LE VENDREDI 6 OCTOBRE , AVANT 14 H Action de Grâces DEADLINE FOR THE OCTOBER 11 EDITION WILL BE FRIDAY OCT. 6, BEFORE 2 P.M. Thanksgiving
L’HEURE DE TOMBÉE POUR LA PUBLICATION DU 11 OCTOBRE SERA LE VENDREDI 6 OCTOBRE , AVANT 14 H Action de Grâces DEADLINE FOR THE OCTOBER 11 EDITION WILL BE FRIDAY OCT. 6, BEFORE 2 P.M. Thanksgiving
Household Hazardous Waste Day Autumn is here which means the Town of Hawkesbury, Champlain Township and East Hawkesbury Township host their annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day event at the Hawkesbury Sewage Plant site at 815 Main Street East. This season’s event is Oct. 7, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is open to residents of the three municipalities. Proof of residence is required from those bringing stuff in for drop-off. A complete list of acceptable items for drop-off is available at the municipal offices for each community. Included are old pesticides and herbicides, old batteries, fluorescent light tubes, gas cylinders and propane canisters, swimming pool chemicals, old paint, old or expired prescription drugs, used motor oil and various other automobile fluids, aerosol sprays, and various household cleaning products. No items containing PCBs or any commercial, industrial or medical waste products or any explosives are acceptable. – Gregg Chamberlain More paramedics The United Counties of Prescott-Russell council approved a resolution during its Sept. 27 session for the counties to add two more paramedic positions to the ambulance services’ roster. The decision is due to an increase in the number of critical emergency callouts. The roster addition will be included in the 2018 budget draft. – Gregg Chamberlain
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