SFL organizes community conversations on how to win the Fight for 15
Released November 7, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2018
SFL organizes community conversations on how to win the Fight for 15
Today, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) announced two community conversations on how to win the Fight for 15, leading up to larger organizing efforts.
“Saskatchewan has one of the worst minimum wages in the country. It’s time to break free from that race to the bottom and that kind of small thinking,” said SFL president Lori Johb, “by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, like Alberta has, we can stimulate our local economy and lift hard-working people out of poverty,” she added.
In Saskatchewan, 96,000 workers earn less than $15 per hour, or 20% of the workforce. A majority of these workers are women. Furthermore, 40% of all workers in Saskatchewan earning minimum wage are between the ages of 15 and 19. Workers between 35 and 64 constitute the second largest cohort of minimum wage earners, at 30% of the total. The SFL has long-held that a rapid phase-in to a $15 an hour minimum wage is a good first step towards a living wage.
“The poverty-level minimum wage that Saskatchewan currently has impacts workers of all ages – from teenagers and students, to single-moms and seniors. Everyone benefits when we raise the minimum wage, that’s why the SFL thinks the organizing effort to win the Fight for 15 should be community-driven,” said Johb, “our community conversations on how to win the Fight for 15 will focus on community empowerment and grassroots organizing. It will give us a good sense of how people want to take on this effort, and how best our labour movement can support them,” she added.
Upcoming community conversations on how to win the Fight for 15:
- Thursday, November 22, 2018 in Saskatoon at the Radisson Hotel (Venice Room). 6PM to 7PM;
- Monday, November 26, 2018 in Regina at the Ramada Hotel (Cedar Room). 6PM to 7PM.
Each community conversation will start with a brief panelist of speakers, followed by a facilitated organizing meeting.
- 30 -
For additional information, contact:
Kent Peterson
Strategic Advisor
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
m: 1 (306) 570-1855
e: k.peterson@sfl.sk.ca
