The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) has joined a larger movement calling for minimum wage to be raised to $14 per hour.
The association made its case Nov. 7 in a presentation to the newly-formed Minimum Wage Advisory Panel.
Vice-president (external) Lauren Montgomery and executive co-ordinator Phil Robinson gave the presentation on behalf of the GSA’s 3,600 members.
“Many students are working multiple minimum wage jobs just to pay their tuition fees, and pay for books, rent, and food,” Montgomery said.
She said tuition fees rising at a “rapid” rate only add to the financial burdens faced by students.
The response from the panel was “very positive,” she said, and the presentation “well-received.”
Anil Verma, chair of the panel, said via email most presenters appearing before the panel agree that minimum wage should be revised.
The panel will advise Ontario’s government on a future minimum wage that is fair to workers and predictable for businesses, according to an Ontario government news release.
The panel will not share its recommendations until its work is complete and submitted to the government, Verma said.
He said while people agree minimum wage should be revised periodically, some groups would like to see it revised sharply upwards, while others want it to go up gradually with inflation.
A rise in minimum wage would not effect business at the GSA’s campus bar Mike’s Place, Robinson said, because the staff make more than minimum wage already.
The next steps for the GSA include trying to get student unions across Canada to participate in consultations like the one that just took place, in order to mobilize membership and draw attention to the issue, Montgomery said.
The call for a higher wage is part of four recommendations made by the Ontario component of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a union the GSA is a part of.
An email from Anna Goldfinch, a CFS-Ontario representative, said they are “coordinating actions across the province in support of a raise in minimum wage, however they were not present at the panel.”
The three other recommendations are for Ontario to index minimum wage to reflect the cost of living, to have pay equity for young workers by eliminating differential minimum wage for those under 18, and for an end to unpaid internships.
