OVER THE EDGE January 26, 2007 Minimum Wage Raise Hotly Debated UNBC Professor Says There is a Good Case for a Raise CAMERON ORR News Eprror A proposal to raise the min- imum wage in British Colum- bia may seem like an answer but it’s stirring up even more questions. Momentum for a rise in minimum wage has_ been gathering strength in the past months. Jim Sinclair, Pres- ident of the BC Federation of Labour, has combined his or- ganization with the Canadian Federation of Students, to fight for a higher rate of pay, a rate they say should be 10 dollars an hour. “If today the minimum wage simply went up by the rate of inflation for the last 5 years, it would be $9.12 cents,” Sinclair said at a press confer- ence in November 2006. Shortly before the new year, the mayors of Burnaby and North Vancouver went on record in support of a wage in- crease. “Clearly there’s a wage shortage for many minimum wage workers who perform vital services in many sectors of the economy,” says North Vancouver Mayor Darrell “There is a case for raising the min- Musso: “They deserve a raise.” in raising the minimum wage because real wages have gone down,” Dr. Dayanandan says. ‘Real wage’ is a term which reflects the actual value of the money earned. For instance, 8 dollars an hour in real wage may be quite less than that, imum wage but there is also a cost. where else.” We should not be too wor- ried about any resulting infla- tion from a pay raise, however, says Dayanadan. “A small increase should not affect the cost of production.” Dayanandan says, regarding the inflation argument. Dr. Dayanandan also suggests that ‘automatic indexing’ should be, and Statistics Canada’s Low If companies take it as an increase in should have already been, Income Cut-Off for 2005, in ¢os¢s they could shift the job to some- Put into place by the a small urban area of 30,000 to 100,000 people, stands at $17,784. Full-time employ- ees working at minimum wage in British Columbia earn, ap- proximately, $16,000 before tax. Dr. Ajit Dayanandan, As- sistant Professor of Economics at UNBC, says there definitely is a case for raising the min- imum wage. “There is a case where else.” considering the inflation since establishing that wage and the resulting impact of the infla- tion on purchasing power. “There is a case for raising the minimum wage but there is also a cost. If companies take it as an increase in costs they could shift the job to some- — Dr. Dayanandan government. Automatic indexing means that as inflation rises so does the minimum wage, which will help maintain the value of the dollar earned. In the United States, the newly democratic controlled House just approved a min- imum wage raise, the first one since 1997. Their plan calls for a $2.10 raise over the course of the next 26 months. So is the 10 dollar an hour raise the right amount to ask for? “T think 10 dollars is a fair raise,” says Dayanandan. “Now it’s not the wage but the number of hours. People aré not getting their full hours and benefits. That’s where the real problem is. Everybody is fol- lowing the Wal-Mart model.” The future of British Col- umbia’s minimum wage is uncertain. Despite a call for a raise from the public, especial- ly students looking to support rising tuition costs, the govern- ment has remained silent on any possible changes. Any idea of a decision on the matter remains purely speculation. University of Manitoba senate endorses CFS Day of Action Faculty asked to schedule tests, bd dro around protest JENELLE PETRINCHUK THe MANITroBAN (UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA) WINNIPEG (CUP) -- Stu- dents may find it easier to par- ticipate in the upcoming Na- tional Day of Action thanks to a motion recently passed at a University of Manitoba senate meeting. Submitted by University of Manitoba Students’ Union president Garry Sran, the mo- tion resolves that the senate en- dorses and is aware of the Feb. 7 protest. The Canadian Federation of Students, a national student lobby group, holds the event to promote awareness and pro- vide information to both stu- dents and the provincial and federal governments on lower- ing tuition fees. Issues in Manitoba include international student differ- ential fees and the tuition fee freeze that has been in place ' for the past six years. Students from the University of Winni- peg, U of M and the Collége Universaire de Saint-Boniface will be meeting at the Mani- toba Legislature on the Day of Action to voice their opinions on funding and accessibility for post-secondary education to the government and Premier Gary Doer. The majority of senators en- dorsed the motion at the meet- ing, including Douglas Ruth, dean of engineering. “I certainly support any motion that has. our students talking to politicians about in- creasing money to the univer- sity,” he said. “Anything that gets the message to the govern- ments is a good thing.” - The original motion sub- mitted to the senate executive ‘committee was not endorsed when because of concerns “regarding the implications of according academic amnesty from logistical, administrative and ‘philosophical perspec- tives.” ' The original motion stated, “that senate declares February 7, 2007 to be a penalty-free day for which no student shall re- ceive an academic penalty for not attending classes or labs,” and added that academic staff should not set exanis or assign- ments on the specified day. Sran said he was expecting a lot of debate for the motion considering the problems that arose when he first met with the senate executive. “It was a very time-sensi- tive issue,” he said. The main problem fore- seen by various senators and deans was that they were not informed of the motion before course syllabi were put togeth- er at the beginning of the year. “Feb. 7 is quite soon so I’m not exactly sure how all faculty members will deal with it, but we certainly will comply with the motion as adopted,” said Richard Sigurdson, dean of arts. Sran met with university secretary Jeff Leclerc as well as various professors and deans and amended the motion so that it was less restrictive and offered more leeway for professors who have already scheduled assignments. After the amendments were read to senate, the motion was passed with virtually no de- bate. The official motion states “that February 7th, 2007 be a day of student protest, and that all academic staff shall be made aware of this fact; and be it further resolved that where reasonable, members of the academic staff be asked not to set exams, assignments or other academic requirements used for grading purposes on February 7th, 2007.” This means that students may miss class, but must plan ahead for the event. Ruth explained that the wording of the amended mo- tion was more appropriate than the first, which he felt was too restrictive because in his fac- ulty it may not be completely possible to defer all exams and assignments. “You really can’t postpone a lab, because there’s only so many days and so many labs.” David Witty, dean of archi- tecture, also preferred the amended version. He pointed out that commitments would have already been made for the date in many classes through- out the faculty of architecture, though he still endorses the idea. “By and large, I support the idea of students being active in promoting their education and lobbying their support for it.”