Alberta forms panel to research server wage
By GILLIAN SLADE on August 16, 2019.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade Local MLAs say the government’s establishment of a panel to assess the minimum wage for severs of alcohol is the best way to move forward. “The statistics I’ve seen is showing that the average restaurant is employing less employees now (with a higher minimum wage) … and people are working fewer hours,” Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes says. Alberta has the highest minimum wage, and the panel, announced Thursday by Labour Minister Jason Copping, will consolidate existing studies on the effects of a rise in minimum wage and determine whether a wage differential for hospitality industry workers who serve alcohol could lead to higher net incomes. The panel will report back by the middle of January 2020. “The effects of Alberta’s 47 per cent minimum wage increase over the past four years and the elimination of the liquor server differential deserve to be studied,” said Copping. Michaela Glasgo, MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat, says it is the right move to be consulting with experts. “This panel is comprised of people from a variety of backgrounds,” said Glasgo. “I think this shows our government’s commitment to consultation regardless of whose involved … making sure we get it right for Albertans.” The NDP raised the minimum wage from $10.20 to the current rate of $15 an hour and eliminated a reduced rate for alcohol servers. The UCP government has since cut the minimum wage for youth under 18, from $15 an hour to $13, claiming a need to improve youth employment numbers. Glasgo says she met with constituents this week who confirmed this has worked. “Before they were not planning to hire more youth and now they’re actually planning on hiring more,” said Glasgo. The new panel is chaired by Joseph Marchand, associate professor of economics at the University of Alberta, and includes Richard Truscott, vice-president, British Columbia and Alberta, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, plus Alberta business owners and employees at Alberta restaurants. Barnes is impressed with the choices for the panel. “It looks like many aspects of Albertans’ lives are represented. This panel will give the opportunity for Albertans to be heard and we will be able to come up with a situation that works really well for employees and employers,” said Barnes. Premier Jason Kenney has previously claimed that alcohol servers had told him the wage increase forced employers to cut their hours and that a wage cut would be more than offset by higher tip income from more hours worked. “The minimum wage expert panel is an important part of the government’s common-sense plan to not only get Albertans working again but also to prove to investors that Alberta is indeed open for business,” Copping told a news conference. NDP Labour critic Christina Gray said the panel has been picked to come to a pre-determined conclusion. She noted that Marchand has already written a paper saying a higher minimum wage could bring job losses. “We know a $15 minimum wage means more money in the pockets of Albertans who will spend it in our local economy. This is good for workers and jobs,” Gray said in a statement. “We also know it’s wrong to pay a group of workers, made up of mostly women, a lower minimum wage than everyone else.” When the NDP took over in 2015, the liquor server rate was $9.20 an hour, one dollar less than the minimum wage. The rationale was that servers get the balance back in tips. The NDP eliminated the differential in 2016, putting alcohol servers on par with the rest of minimum wage earners. Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia currently have reduced wages for servers. Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley, who brought the wage hikes in when she was premier, felt the raises gave workers a living wage and that the money would be reinvested in the economy. Kenney has said the wage hike was one of a number of NDP missteps that worsened the state of its struggling oil and gas-based economy. — with files from The Canadian Press 26-25
Another classic Ralph Klein move. Form all these panels wasting taxpayers money, as an excuse, to fill the pockets of your friends on these panels. Under Klein they were paid $750. per day we were told even if they didn’t bother to show up some days. Even some of the PC MLAs that were defeated in elections ended up on these panels filling their pockets with taxpayers money.
Maybe we had better find out how much they are being paid and who they are? Kenney has already hired a Liberal from the Decore era and a NDP from Saskatchewan to help him figure out the finances in this province because apparently he feels his part isn’t smart enough to do it. Isn’t this the same Kenney who taught his supporters to hurl their sarcastic comments at Liberals and the NDP? The guy has never been a Conservative but his supporters didn’t care, they elected him anyway.