In This Section
Look up in the sky....it’s $10 NOW!
September 12, 2007
With the $10 NOW banner flying high above the Lower Mainland, successful Labour Day events in communities across the province have generated thousands more supporters for a minimum wage increase in B.C.
With that added momentum, more than 30,000 British Columbians have signed the $10 NOW petition.
Meanwhile, the City of Terrace is the most recent local government to endorse a $10 minimum. Councillors there voted Sept. 10 to call on Premier Campbell to boost the minimum which would give 250,000 B.C. workers a raise.
That makes 28 municipal councils that have backed a higher minimum wage. More are expected to back the call before the end of September.
And the Justice and Peace Unit of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster has given its blessing to the campaign and will work to gain support among parishioners.
On the media front, Coquitlam Now is the 13th newspaper to editorially endorse a higher minimum wage. Even a Vancouver Sun columnist is urging the provincial government to "listen carefully" to the Federation's proposal to index the minimum so that low-paid workers can be assured of annual pay boosts.
The Federation is also working on a You Tube project to give minimum wage earners the chance to tell Premier Campbell what it's like to live on below poverty level wages. If you know someone who is struggling to make ends meet on less than $10, please contact Stephen Howard at the Federation, 604-430-1421, or showard@bcfed.ca.
Federation president Jim Sinclair is urging all petition signers to take the 10 for $10 challenge to help boost the pressure on the B.C. Liberals.
The 10 for $10 challenge is simple. Send this link: $10 NOW(http://www.bcfed.ca/petition/minimum_wage) to 10 friends. Ask them to sign and send it on to 10 of their friends too.
