lAboUr briefs
2
Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014
manitoba
increasing
minimum wage
in october
WinniPeG — Manitoba is
increasing the minimum wage
Oct. 1 to $10.70 per hour.
"We have increased the
minimum wage every year
since 2000. This most recent
increase builds on our long-
term plan to provide the low-
est wage earners increased
purchasing power so they can
better provide for themselves
and their families," said La-
bour and Immigration Minis-
ter Erna Braun.
"It also contributes to a vi-
brant labour market that will
help Manitoba businesses at-
tract and retain workers."
The increase of 25 cents per
hour brings the current mini-
mum wage to $10.70 from
$10.45 and will make Mani-
toba the fourth highest among
other Canadian jurisdictions.
To keep the province com-
petitive for businesses, the
Manitoba government has
eliminated the small business
tax.
In 1999, Manitoba had the
highest small business tax rate
in Canada, said Braun, adding
that the province is the only
one in the country to have
completely eliminated its small
business tax, removing 12,000
businesses from the tax rolls
and saving each small business
owner $55,000 every year.
Information on the mini-
mum wage and other employ-
ment standards is available at
www.gov.mb.ca/labour/stan-
dards.
deal ends
10-month
Bonfi eld,
ont., strike
BonFieLd, ont. — After 10
months and two days of labour
board-mediated talks, city
staffers in a small rural Ontario
township will be returning to
work.
In Bonfield, Ont. — a town of
about 2,000 — the bitter strike
that began last summer and
saw Mayor Randall McLaren
and the Canadian Union of
Pubic Employees (CUPE) butt-
ing heads has finally come to an
end.
While details of the tenta-
tive agreement — which was
ratified by the union on June 5
— are still forthcoming, of note
is that the five employees fired
over the course of the job action
were reinstated.
Those employees were
initially let go, according to
McLaren, because they tried to
prevent two local councillors
from attending a meeting on
how to get city services back up
and running (such as recycling,
bylaw enforcement and road
maintenance), which were sus-
pended during the strike.
During negotiations, CUPE
raised concerns pertaining to
provisions such as seniority,
training, employment security,
scheduling, vacation, sick leave
and benefits.
"We worked really hard to
reach a deal that both we and
the township can live with.
"Ultimately, we were able
to push all the major conces-
sions off the table," said Diane
Francouer, a spokesperson for
the local union chapter, adding
that, "from the beginning, this
was a defensive strike."
Migrant workers sit at a construction site in Bangkok, Thailand. Fearing government reprisals, a mass
exodus of Cambodian labourers could leave a major dent in the economy, according to Thai offi cials.
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