Canadian Labour Reporter

1 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 FEBRUARY 10, 2014 LABOUR BRIEFS Heenan Blaikie scraps labour law group / Ontario pension plan gets green light / Alberta extends bargaining deadline . . . . 2 COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS • Langara College, Vancouver. Two-month vacation during the summer. . . . . . . . . 3 • General Electric, Edmonton. Five per cent premium if employees live and work away from home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 • United Class Cabs, Fort McMurray, Alta. Drivers to keep ad revenue. . . . . . . . . . 4 • Manitoba Telecom Services, Manitoba. Three personal days per year . . . . . . . . 4 • University of Western, London, Ont. Unlimited bereavement leave . . . . . . . . 4 • Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Immunization shots . . . . . . . 5 • Nova Scotia Community College, Halifax. Half-day on Christmas Eve . . . . . . . . . 5 ARBITRATION AWARDS • Operator bulldozes through safety .. . . . 6 • Three strikes and city worker is out. . . . 8 ON LABOUR-REPORTER.COM Unions in Illinois sue over a controversial pension law and premiers present an alternative plan for the Canada Job Grant. Visit www.labour-reporter.com for daily news stories. Follow us on Twitter @ labourreporter. And don't forget — all collective agreement summaries on labour-reporter.com now include links to the full agreements. UPCOMING ISSUES Nest eggs in Ontario could be getting a boost, after Premier Kathleen Wynne announced a new scheme for a provincial pension plan. As the province boldly charts this new path, one that is sure to be littered with obstacles, we wonder what Ontario's pension plan will look like and how it will affect the future of retirement. See more in next week's issue of CLR. | by LIZ FOSTER | A TEENAGER flipping burgers at the local fast food joint — this is the image most often evoked by organizations arguing about a raise in minimum wage. For the Canadian Federation of Inde- pendent Business (CFIB), this teen is the typical minimum wage earner. He lives at home with his parents, is upgrading his education and will only work a mini- mum wage job for a fixed period of time. While a wage hike will have no lasting effect on his life, it will have a significant im- pact on his employer. For Unifor — the largest union in the private sec- tor representing more than 300,000 Canadian workers — this teen is a small part of the bigger picture. He is now competing for minimum wage jobs with university graduates and adults who are moving back home out of necessity when they fail to find a job in their field. On Jan. 30, the Ontario government announced the minimum wage will rise by 75 cents from $10.25 per hour to $11 per hour. The change will take place on June 1, 2014. While the CFIB worries the increase will have a negative impact on employ- ers, Unifor is calling for a larger raise. It seems that in the aftermath of the an- nouncement, praise for the province is only coming from one place — that teen flipping burgers. The increase comes after a report and recommendations made by the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel (MWAP). Panel members represented various organizations including the Retail Coun- cil of Canada and the Ontario Federation of Labour. In its report, the MWAP made recommendations to create a more trans- parent and predictable pro- cess for raising minimum wage. Based on these recom- mendations, the new rate reflects the rise in Ontario's consumer price index (CPI) since the province's last minimum wage increase four years ago. Proposed legislation would tie future raises to the CPI, with in- creases announced by April 1 and coming into effect on Oct. 1. The MWAP also recommended an on- going research program be established by the province to continue gathering and analyzing information to address issues surrounding increases in minimum wage. "We want to make sure that we depoliticize the manner in which minimum wage is determined in the province," said labour minister Yasir Naqvi. "In the past it has been a political Minimum wage debate rages on Hike to $11 will solidify Ontario's spot as one of highest rates in Canada PM #40065782 Continued on page 7 "We want to make sure that we depoliticize the manner in which minimum wage is determined in the province." IN THIS ISSUE

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