St. John’s – CUPE NL is throwing its support behind a provincial NDP initiative to increase the minimum wage.
CUPE NL President Wayne Lucas says, “We have not had a minimum wage increase since 2010. I can’t imagine there is a single Newfoundlander or Labradorian who thinks that’s acceptable, given the strength of our economy.
“CUPE is in total support of the NDP’s call on the Marshall government to implement the recommendations of the 2012 Minimum Wage Review Committee. We are urging government to legislate an immediate increase in the minimum wage to reflect the loss of purchasing power since 2010, as well as an annual adjustment beginning in 2015 to reflect the CPI.”
Lucas says, “Even in the USA, there have been several, high profile minimum wage increases in the last few weeks. Several cities, and in some cases entire states have raised their minimum wages quite dramatically. The City of Seattle, for example, instituted a minimum wage of $15 an hour, the highest in that country.”
Lucas says CUPE NL will be distributing the NDP petition to CUPE locals across the province and asking their members to sign on.