By Bhavkirat Gill
Women, people of colour and immigrants are more likely to work in part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contract jobs. Employers are allowed to pay these workers less than their full-time counterparts even if they are doing the exact same work.
This would help explain why precarious work is growing so rapidly and why vulnerable groups continue to fall behind.
In 2016, over 150,000 jobs added in Canada were temporary while just 60, 400 were full-time. In the GTA, less than half of workers have a permanent, full-time job with benefits.
How are people expected to survive on temporary jobs making subpar wages?
Currently, Bill 148 has the potential to start addressing this issue through its “equal pay for equal work” provision. But this provision falls short of creating real change for workers because of its weak language.
We commend the Liberals for this step but Bill 148 means nothing if workers can’t actually use the laws.
For the millions of workers who need this Bill, we hope the Liberals actually want to help and fix the wording before Third Reading.