News

Share this page on Facebook | Share this page on Twitter

Find out more about Fight for 15 Campaigns in the news (hint: we’re winning!) And check out relevant news about why we need to Fight for 15 in Saskatchewan.

June 3, 2020
0

Supplemental Wage Program: A Government admission they would pay us all less if it wasn’t for this darned pandemic?

Category : For Workers , News , Uncategorized

The Government of Saskatchewan, in partnership with the Government of Canada, introduced a temporary wage supplement of $400 for each four-week period, up to 16 weeks, for the period from March 15, 2020 to July 4, 2020. To be eligible, a worker must earn a wage less than $24.00 per hour at an eligible essential care facility, in the four-week period for which the worker has applied for the supplement.

An eligible worker must also have total earnings less than $2,500, including earnings from work outside an eligible essential care facility, in the four-week period for which the worker has applied for the supplement. Aside from confusing people with its numerous, somewhat contradictory criteria, here is why we think this amounts to the Saskatchewan Government saying “We would pay you less if it wasn’t for this darned pandemic”.

This is limited to essential care industries only. This begs the question why? Well if you look at the trends in wages in frontline “essential” customer service, you see a lot of weird pay arrangements like “hazard pay” and “pandemic pay” being thrown around. In many cases, these pay arrangements act to increase starting wage rates above $15.00 per hour.

May 16, 2020
0

Value Of The Risk Taken By Frontline Workers

Category : For Workers , News , Uncategorized

In this global pandemic it is now apparent that society functions on the backs of essential workers that have held the frontline while we fight COVID-19. Giving these essential workers a livable wage is not only the right thing to do economically but also the moral thing.

The Fight for 15 campaign is built upon 3 demands that we will examine over the next 3 weeks.

DEMAND #1- Recognizing the value of and risk being taken by low wage frontline service workers, especially those risking their health to take care of ours in areas deemed essential by permanently and immediately increasing Saskatchewan’s minimum wage to $15.15/hr.

April 1, 2019
0

Media Release: Workers in Regina and Saskatoon demand a $15 minimum wage

Category : News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2019

Workers in Regina and Saskatoon are holding a street party and protest to demand a $15 minimum wage.

On Monday, April 1, the Fight for $15 Saskatchewan is holding “DEAD LAST,” a street party/protest to ‘celebrate’ the fact that Saskatchewan has the worst minimum wage in the country and call on the Sask Party to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour.

96,000 workers in Saskatchewan – a full fifth of the workforce – earn less than $15/hour. 76 per cent of those earning less than $15/hour are adults. These workers and families are struggling to make ends meet, and since 2008 food bank use in Saskatchewan has grown 77 per cent. The other provinces of Canada are increasing their minimum wages, but Saskatchewan is not. As Nova Scotia raises its minimum wage on April 1, we will be left behind with the worst minimum wage in Canada: $11.06 per hour.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has calculated that in Saskatoon or Regina, a full-time worker would need to earn over $16 per hour to afford the basics like rent, groceries, and childcare.

“That doesn’t even take into account saving for retirement, paying student loans, disability plans, or home ownership,” says Saima Desai, an organizer with the Fight for $15 Saskatchewan. “We desperately need the Sask Party to increase our minimum wage to at least $15 per hour to keep workers out of poverty. Anything less is cruel and cowardly on the part of the Sask Party.”

Between noon and 1 p.m. members of Fight for $15 Saskatchewan and community members will be holding a petition blitz in both Regina and Saskatoon. In Regina, partiers will convene on Scarth Street in front of the Cornwall Mall, and in Saskatoon, the party will be held in front of City Hall.

Volunteers will give out free cake and flyers with information on raising the minimum wage, and will be collecting signatures on a petition calling on the Saskatchewan Party to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr. People will also be able to sign postcards that will be sent to Don Morgan, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, demanding a $15 minimum wage.

Speakers at the event in Regina will include Avianna Hudym, a low-wage worker; Peter Gilmer from the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry; and Nairn MacKay, a former low-wage worker and organizer with Poverty Free Saskatchewan.

“A living wage matters even more to the majority of low wage workers who are unlikely to be working a traditional 40 hour work week at the same job,” says MacKay, who has worked a number of low wage jobs in Saskatchewan. “In most sectors, workers are required to keep open availability, which means that taking a second job to make ends meet is nearly impossible.”

Fight for $15 Saskatchewan is one chapter in a larger network of worker-led movements across Canada to raise the minimum wage, improve working standards, and increase access to unions.
MEDIA CONTACT

http://fightfor15sk.ca

March 28, 2019
0

Dead Last: Street Party and Petition Blitz for a $15 Minimum Wage

Category : News

On April 1, Saskatchewan will become the province with the lowest minimum wage in the country, at just $11.06 an hour. That’s devastatingly, embarrassingly low – you need to earn at least $16/hour to afford the basics and stay out of poverty in Saskatchewan. So we’re hosting a couple events that ‘celebrate’ the dubious honour. The Sask Party is the BEST at being the WORST!

SASKATOON:

What: A petition blitz! We’ll have cake, petition-signing, and flyers.
When: April 1, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: Civic Square, in front of City Hall – 222 3^rd Ave N, Saskatoon

REGINA:

What: A street party! We’ll have cake, music, petition-signing, more postcards, and flyers.
When: April 1, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Where: 1801 Scarth Street, in front of the Globe Theatre

We need folks who will help us with the following:

LEVEL 1: Flyering and asking people to sign petitions. We’ll provide the flyers and some talking points – you just have to stop passers-by.
LEVEL 2: Folks who can arrive early or stay late and help with set up and tear down. Someone to take photographs of the event for our social media.
LEVEL 3: People who want to be media spokespeople at the event (which means talking to any media who show up about what the Fight for $15 is and why raising the minimum wage to $15 is both possible and crucial). This would also ideally (though not necessarily) be someone who is a low-wage worker.

Check the Fight for $15 SK Facebook page for both events. If you can’t attend the event in person, on April 1 tweet or post to demand that the Sask Party raise Saskatchewan’s minimum wage to $15, using the hashtags #DEADLAST and #FightFor15SK. You can also tweet at Don Morgan (@SaskMLA) and @PremierScottMoe.

January 16, 2018
0

Support Tim Hortons Workers & the Fight for 15! Canada-wide Day of Action

Tags : front-featured front-recent

Category : For Workers , News

In support of the Canada-wide Day of Action to Stand With Tim Hortons Workers and the Fight for 15, join Saskatchewan Fight for 15 for petition blitzes in Regina and Saskatoon!

Saskatoon: Click here for the Facebook event.

WHEN: Friday, January 19 from 8:30am-10:00am

WHERE: Midtown Plaza – 201 1 Ave S, Saskatoon (outside front doors)

Regina: Click here for the Facebook event.

There are three sites/times. Come just for an hour if you like, BUT COME – anything helps Saskatchewan workers get that much closer to a living wage!
– Team 1, outside Cornwall Centre, 9:30am – 11:00am. Meeting outside the BMO at 1800 Scarth Street at 9:30. Find Aina Kagis (306-527-2014) for materials when you arrive.
– Team 2, UofR campus, 9:30am-2pm. Meeting in the Riddell Centre. Find Nick Day (306-526-8708) for materials when you arri…ve.
– Team 3, outside Cornwall Centre, 5pm-7pm. Meeting outside the BMO at 1800 Scarth Street at 5. Find Nick Day (306-526-8708) for materials when you arrive.

Come petition and leaflet with us!

A quick FYI – When Ontario’s minimum wage increased to $14 on January 1, 2018, Tim Hortons began to cut workers’ paid breaks, reduce access to basic drug and dental benefits, eliminate uniform and drink allowances, and even cut employees’ hours of work.

This is outrageous coming from a wildly profitable multinational corporation.

• In 2016, Tim Hortons generated US $3 billion in revenue for its parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI).

• That same year RBI CEO Daniel Schwartz pocketed $6,640,150 in salary, stock options and other perks.

• An additional US $350 million in profits were given out to shareholders.

This is not right, and it’s downright greedy. It’s time to take action. Join us and fight for 15!

December 5, 2017
0

Celebrate “The 12 days of Fight for 15!”

Tags : front-recent

Category : For Workers , News

There was a choice to make. Stimulate the economy during tough times or austerity. The Sask Party chose austerity. The people of Saskatchewan have done a tremendous job standing up against these cuts and tax hikes, but we need an alternative that not only lifts people out of poverty, but helps boost our local communities.

With the holidays fast approaching and many low income earners working hard this holiday season, we thought it would be fun to do some group activities! With that in mind, we created the 12 days of Fight for 15 (FF15)!

Day 1 (December 13) Invite facebook friends to like our facebook page.
Day 2 (December 14) Contact leader hopefuls regarding their plans for 15. Sask Party candidates can be found here. Ryan Meili and Trent Wotherspoon have committed to a $15 min wage already! Speaking notes are here to help out!
Day 3 (December 15) Take the petition to community or work function. Get your petition here!
Day 4 (December 16) Find and share a $15 wage article on our FB page.
Day 5 (December 17) Write your MLA. Not sure who your MLA is? Find your constituency here. Some speaking notes to help you are here
Day 6 (December 18) Blitz a mall Monday! Take a friend and our petition to a mall to get signatures and talk to people about our Fight for 15 campaign. (Note you may get kicked out – prepare for plan B.) FF15 organizers will be by the Sears mall entrance in Midtown Plaza, Saskatoon at 4pm. Come join me or pick a mall in your community!
Day 7 (December 19) Find a store in your community that pays workers $15. Share that with us!
Day 8 (December 20) Write the newspaper, share a personal story of how $15 would impact you or your loved ones. Tips can be found here.
Day 9 (December 21) Tape this small graphic to all your paper money and use it in your last days of Christmas shopping.
Day 10 (December 22) follow up with your MLA/elected hopefuls if they haven’t responded. If they have, try to get them to commit to a timeline.
Day 11 (December 23) Call your BFF, wish them happy holidays and tell them what you’ve done for the 12 days of FF15.
Day 12 (December 24) Subtly drop info about FF15 with your family on Christmas Eve.

As always, there are lots of myth busting answers here. Feel free to print copies of each to educate the skeptic. Hand them out as Christmas Presents! Thank you all for making the world better by participating and…Happy Holidays!

November 16, 2017
0

Both Sask NDP leadership candidates on board for $15 minimum wage!

Category : News , Uncategorized

On October 28, at the Sask NDP convention, Trent Wotherspoon committed to legislating a $15 minimum wage if elected premier during the leadership debate.

We now have both NDP leadership candidates committed to a $15 wage in Saskatchewan! We must keep the pressure up, and push them to commit to do so within a timeline that helps families immediately. So far we haven’t heard of any of the Sask Party candidates promising remotely the same.

Just this last, minimum wage was raised to $10.96/hour. We went from the lowest minimum wage in Canada to the second lowest. Average wages in Canada, as of April 2017 is $27.95. Canada, we can do better. Saskatchewan, we can do better. A minimum wage of $15 would equate to $31,200 a year. $15 wages could change lives of minimum wage earners in a huge way.

Call on your Sask Party leadership candidates today and challenge them to commit to $15 minimum wage!

October 13, 2017
0

One Leadership Hopeful Promises $15 Minimum Wage

Tags : front-recent

Category : For Workers , News

With both the Saskatchewan Party and NDP electing new leaders early next year (January 27 and March 3, respectfully), so far, one candidate, Ryan Meili, has promised a $15 minimum wage. Let’s pressure the other candidates to do the same!

Contact our potential next premiers today and ask them to commit to a $15 minimum wage. If they don’t, ask what their plan is to tackle the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

Let us know your progress here!