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Employees at Rail City Industries will hand out leaflets and
peanuts at two shopping centres in Melville, Sask., on Saturday to draw
attention to their low wages and the need for more government support for their agency.
“We’re paid peanuts,” says Doreen
Pilot, Local 3481 president. “We have
teenage children making more than us cleaning buildings.”
The 30 members of the local provide training, education and residential
care for people with mental and physical challenges.
Although their jobs are demanding, most of the staff all women
makes $7 to $9 an hour.
In contrast, group
home workers covered by collective agreements in the institutional sector make
$12 to $14 an hour, while employees doing work of equal value in the provincial
government make $16 to $18 an hour.
The low wages are due
to the lack of financial support from the provincial government, Pilot
said. “The Saskatchewan government has
nickel-and-dimed group homes and other community services for years[and] the
government is sitting on an $83 million surplus.”
The CUPE members wore
peanut necklaces and carried signs declaring “We’re worth more than peanuts.”