The Minimum Wage Isn't High Enough

Another year and another wage increase for the lowest paid workers in the province of Ontario. And as usual business are crying about how they will suffer, in fact this years wage increase was almost cancel because of the 2008 recession. And it makes sense I mean if large corporations are going under for their own incompetence the workers must be scarified to appease the rich elite of Ontario.

This will be the last increase for the next few years, and while I hate not to have another increase I'm somewhat happy, before the Liberal government came into power, the minimum wage in the province was horrible. I still remember the days of being paid $6.95 an hour as a dishwasher. Now as of March 31st 2010 the mandated Ontario minimum wage is $10.25 for anyone over the age of 18.

However, I really got to ask myself, if I'm getting paid a minimum wage do I do a minimum job as a grocery clerk for No Frills? Think about it, if I get paid the lowest legal wage why should I work my ass of for my boss who hoards all the money to himself? He has a nice car and a lucrative business that is always keeping him in the black. So while he gets thousands of dollars every month and nets himself a healthy profit what does he do for his workers? Does he pay them above minimum wage? No of course not, why not keep using the stupid and under educated students from a local high school as a means to keep costs down and profits up. And do you know what he gave us as a Christmas bonus? Guess really I can wait......a fucking sweater...something probably made in china by an 8 year old kid. Yes thats generous of you, I'm ecstatic about my sweater.

As you can tell I don't really like my boss...not to say he's a bad guy...I simply think he's a workaholic that loves to push himself up by pushing his employees down. In the old days you paid a good worker for a job well done and because of that, that very same worker would do anything he could to help the company to survive. In the old days if a company was becoming less profitable because of a recession would bite the bullet and not fire a few hundred workers to keep the profits up.

Those days are dead for my generation, we are expected to work just as hard as our parents and even harder for less money and paid higher taxes that the government needs for subsidizing the rich corporations.

The minimum wage should be set as something reasonable. How about every time the company makes a profit in the week everyone gets a portion of it. The more hours you put in and the harder you work the more you earn. Isn't that capitalism at its best rewarding the most hard working with the higher wage? Oh I'm sorry this is not capitalism at work this is corporatism.