Wildrose points to Seattle study in criticism of minimum wage hike
Posted Jun 28, 2017 7:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Wildrose is using a report from the University of Washington to attack the NDP government’s minimum wage hikes.
The university examined the effects of Seattle bumping its minimum wage up to $13 in 2016 on its way to $15, and found the hike is hurting, rather than helping hourly-paid workers.
Wildrose Shadow Jobs Minister Glenn Van Dijken said many employers were forced to lay off workers — and that’s not all.
“Current employees are losing hours, leading to where the increase in minimum wage has also caused the decrease in take home pay — for those who are lucky enough to keep their jobs,” he said.
Van Dijken said the province should stop its plans to get to the $15 mark by 2018 or in the very least, perform a financial case study before going ahead.
