By Sarah Mojtehedzadeh

Protesters rallied across the province Monday urging Premier Doug Ford not to scrap new worker protections after he pledged earlier this month to repeal the law giving Ontarians two paid sick days, equal pay for equal work and a minimum wage bump.

In Toronto, at least 200 protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Labour in support of a $15 minimum wage, currently scheduled to come into effect in January. Ford has pledged to freeze it at $14 and scrap the rest of Bill 148, which was enacted late last year to tackle the rise of precarious work.

By Allan Benner

Workers Activist Group protests threat of Bill 148 repeal

After years of fighting for a $15 minimum wage, members of Niagara Workers Activist Group are now fighting to keep the promised wage hike.

Nearly two years after Ontario's former Liberal government approved Bill 148 increasing the minimum wage to $15 on Jan. 1, 2019, members of the grassroots organization formed that was in 2015 to lobby for a fair wage for workers are resuming their "moral battle."

About two dozen Niagara Workers Activist Group members and labour organization representatives gathered in front of the Ministry of Transportation building on St. Paul Street Monday in one of more than 40 protests that took place across Ontario responding to plans announced earlier this month by Premier Doug Ford to repeal the $15 minimum wage, as well as other benefits such as 10 days of emergency leave, equal pay for part time and contract workers, and leaves of absence for victims of domestic violence.

NWAG co-chair Lisa Britton, who organized the local protest, said numerous people working in Niagara's low-paying service industry jobs will be hard hit if the province follows through with its plans.

She said the PC government "needs to understand that we need the $15 minimum wage — we need Bill 148."

Although cool, rainy weather and "short notice" about the protest was blamed for modest participation, NWAG member Salaeh Waziruddin said there is substantial support for the minimum wage increase.

"Everybody knows somebody who is trying to make it work, trying to make ends meet with minimum wage and it's not working," he said. "When we canvass, we are seeing a lot of support."

Waziruddin said rolling back Bill 148 will be terrible for workers.

"We can't let them do that. We have to organize," he told protesters. "We need to show them that if they take away our minimum wage, we're going to show our maximum rage."

NWAG member Julia Lucas said the provincial government is "threatening to do everything they can to make life harder for the working people."

"A third of the workers in this province are earning minimum wage, so there's a lot at stake. It's important for all of them to be able to pay for all the things that we take for granted," Lucas said. "This is a moral battle."

Kyle Hoskin from Candaian Union of Public Employees Local 1287, representing workers at Emterra Environmental, said there's more at stake than just the $15 minimum wage.

"This is going to impact every single person in this province," he said. "I think it's important that we protect this bill in its entirety with all of its provisions."

Although public-sector union representatives participated in the protest, Bruce Allen from Unifor Local 199 pointed out that most minimum wage earners work in the private sector.

"Right now I'm going to call on the private sector unions who aren't here — with the exception of me — and say, 'You guys have to step up,'" he said. "The private sector workforce has got to get behind this struggle."

Britton said the group has plans for additional protests, if needed.

She also invited people to get involved by emailing her at [email protected]

Read The St. Catharines Standard full story 

By Vincent Ball

A handful of people gathered Monday at Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma’s constituency office to urge the provincial government to back off plans to repeal labour laws.

The Brantford action was among about 50 expected to take part in communities across Ontario in defence of new workers’ rights brought in by Bill 148: Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, including the $15 minimum wage that is scheduled for Jan. 1.

“We think Bill 148 should remain in place,” said Andja Milos, a 26-year-old Laurier Brantford criminology student, who was part of the group at Bouma’s office on Nelson Street.

“I’ve worked for temp agencies and know what that’s like,” she said.

“And there are a lot of people who work full-time hours but only get part-time pay.

“We want fairness in the workplace and that’s what Bill 148 is all about.”

The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act was brought in by the previous Liberal government. Premier Doug Ford has vowed to get rid of the legislation, suggesting it has been a job killer.

Bouma was not at the constituency office on Monday. So, Milos and others provided information to an office employee.

Milos said she is especially concerned about the potential loss of personal emergency leave, a measure she says is vitally important to workers.

“Workers shouldn’t have to go to a lot of trouble to get time off in an emergency,” she said, adding that the law helps part-time workers and others who are struggling with child care or providing care to a family member.

Under existing legislation, employees are entitled to 10 sick days a year, two of them paid.

The province also is being urged to follow through on a planned raise of the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The “Fight for $15 and fairness” is being supported by labour leaders, including Chris Buckley, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“It’s not too late for Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet to do the right thing and help Ontario workers,” Buckley said in a statement.

For more information about the campaign visit www.15andfairness.org.

Read The Brantford Expositor full story

By Jill Young

There are over 50 protests planned today across Ontario about Bill 148

Over 50 protests are planned today province-wide about the minimum wage.

It's about the potential scrapping of Bill 148 which would include a $15 minimum wage by January of next year.

The bill was introduced by the previous Liberal government, and even before he was elected,  Premier Doug Ford voiced his opposition to it.

A rally is being held this afternoon at 4:15 at the office of Simcoe Grey MPP Jim Wilson in Alliston.

Wilson is also Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade.

Read the Bayshore Broadcasting full story

By Jerry Dias

Ford should explain where he's getting his numbers before he attacks a piece of legislation that can make a real difference in workers' lives.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford needs to understand that before he goes telling the Ontario Legislature, as he was quoted in online publication Queen's Park Todayas saying, that the bill has caused businesses to leave Ontario "in droves."

Statistics Canada tracks the number of incorporated businesses in Ontario and across the country, but the most recent data is only for 2016, so Ford can't be using official statistics to back up his assertion.

Ford should explain where he's getting his numbers before he attacks a piece of legislation that can make a real difference in workers' lives.

Think about it: people with good jobs have more money to spend, and the confidence to spend that money.

When people spend their earnings, it spurs the economy. Every dollar workers earn becomes revenue for businesses in their community, which leads to those businesses needing to hire more workers.

People in precarious jobs often have little money to spend, and in any case can be leery of doing so in in case things go bad and their hours are cut or they lose their job.

If people can't spend, the economy can't grow. It's just common sense. Precarious jobs create a precarious economy.

Addressing all this was the driving force behind Ontario's Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act of 2017, and Unifor's exhaustive submission as the bill was being drafted.

The bill raised the minimum wage, allowed for two paid days of sick leave a year, provisions to ensure predictable shift schedules, three weeks' vacation after five years, sexual and domestic violence leave, and more.

Now the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, whose members are the same businesses that benefit most when workers in their community have more money to spend, is calling on the Ford government to repeal Bill 148.

Even before the bill came into effect, the Chamber commissioned an apocalyptic report claiming that Bill 148 would cost the province 185,000 jobs.

In my experience, only a bad trade deal can cause that kind of damage.

While Ford's claim that businesses are leaving in droves can't be backed up with verifiable statistics, we do know that in the seven months after the minimum wage came into effect, unemployment in Ontario fell from 5.6 to 5.4 per cent as the province added 80,000 jobs, one of the best job creation rates in the country.

I have to ask, if companies are leaving, who is hiring all these workers?

The job growth we have seen is the exact opposite of what the chamber predicted. A dip in the notoriously volatile employment rate in August doesn't change the longer-term growth trend since the minimum wage was raised at the start of the year. The fact is, Bill 148 has not been the job killer the Chamber of Commerce claimed.

Disturbingly, the Ford government seems open to the Chamber's call to repeal Bill 148, with Ford himself making a surprise announcement in the Legislature that his government would get rid the bill.

Such a move would return the province to having labour laws dating back to the 1970s, when jobs were much more likely be permanent and full-time, and could support a family, including fringe benefits and a pension that guaranteed retirement security.

Things look rather different today. In Hamilton, for instance, only 44 per cent of millennials have been able to find full-time, permanent jobs in a city that was once a major centre of manufacturing in this country, according to a recent report. Disturbingly, 38 per cent of those polled by McMaster University and the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario said they expect to be worse off than their parents.

Precarious jobs are characterized by lower pay, little, if anything, in the way of benefits or a pension, and heightened insecurity. People in jobs like that don't tend to spend. They can't.

We need more provinces to pass legislation such as Bill 148, so we can address the dire future facing our young people. Instead, we face the prospect of losing what gains have been made.

Rather than calling for the bill to be repealed, the Chamber of Commerce should rescind its own misguided report and let its members go about the business of reaping the rewards of having consumers in their communities with more money in their pockets.

Jerry Dias, National President, Unifor

Read the Huff Post full story

By Chris Buckley

Far too many Ontarians have experienced domestic or sexual violence. My own story is like many others: a father who was physically abusive towards my mother. It was 50 years ago, but I remember the day she was able to leave like it was yesterday. I remember trudging along beside her in the snow with my brothers and sister in tow. I remember that we headed to my Aunt’s house. I remember that we slept on the floor for weeks as my mother looked for work and then used her off hours to find us housing, see the doctor and find a lawyer; everything she needed to keep us safe.

This was a time long before domestic and sexual violence leave existed in Ontario.

Thankfully, workers fought for and won today’s laws, which provide survivors with five paid days off work to help them. It’s one portion of the decent work laws that Doug Ford wants to cancel.

With decent work laws, keeping us safe would have been easier for my mother. Right now, Ontario has a number of new laws that improve life for workers in this province: the upcoming $15 minimum wage, two paid sick days, 10 personal emergency leave days, two of them paid, and laws that make it easier to join and keep a union.

Doug Ford has said he will scrap the whole thing, leaving millions without these important protections. This isn’t good for working-age people anywhere in this province, and it’s not good for their children.

Teachers tell us that losing decent work laws will put stress and strain on students who live in poverty. Doctors have told us that sick days and better wages improve the health of workers. Faith leaders report the benefits of decent work laws for members in their congregations.

Ontario’s decent work laws are the result of a long process of consultation. I spoke to MPPs who were deciding on the law. As I sat in the committee rooms, I kept the stories I’ve heard from workers across this province in the back of my mind, along with my mother’s story.

My brother, mother and I scraped by on my mother’s wages for many years. I wonder how her life would have been different with a decent minimum wage and decent work laws to help, including domestic and sexual violence leave.

Decent work laws create the conditions for workers to do better. When workers do better, so do their families, and so does Ontario.

Decent work laws, including domestic and sexual violence leave, would have provided my mother with the support every worker now has in this province.

Doug Ford must stop listening to big corporations, and start listening to the millions of workers who will be left vulnerable if he cancels decent work laws and the Jan. 1 increase to a $15 minimum wage.

Mr. Ford, it’s not too late to change your mind and keep your hands off decent work laws and the $15 minimum wage.

Chris Buckley is the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Read the Toronto Sun full story

By Gill Deacon

Yesterday, Doug Ford said the government will scrap legislation that, among other things, would raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars. The move has been criticized by a number of people... including, now, teachers. A number of teachers and support staff are holding a rally tomorrow to draw attention to the repercussions that scrapping the minimum wage hike could have on students and their families. Melanie Wilson is a high school teacher with the TDSB who's participating in tomorrow's rally.

Listen to the CBC full Story

By Amanda Lang

TORONTO -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford vowed Tuesday to scrap labour reform legislation from the previous Liberal regime that raised the province's minimum wage and introduced a range of other worker protections, a declaration that came days after his government said the law was under review.

Ford's comments caught the opposition off guard and upset those in the labour community who have been supporters of the law known as Bill 148.

"We're getting rid of Bill 148," the premier said in the legislature. "We're going to make sure we're competitive around the world."

The Progressive Conservatives said last week that they would halt a planned increase to minimum wage set to kick in next year as a result of the Liberal law, and the labour minister said the rest of the legislation was being reviewed.

The bill mandates equal pay for part-time and temporary workers doing the same job as full-time employees and increases vacation entitlements to three weeks after a worker has been with their company for five years.

It also requires employees to be paid for three hours if their shift is cancelled within 48 hours of its start, and expands personal emergency leave to 10 days per year, two of them paid.

When brought in, the law was applauded by labour activists who had been calling on the government to increase the minimum wage for years. Some businesses, however, complained about the hike in minimum wage -- from $11.60 to $14 an hour on Jan. 1 -- and raised prices, cut staff hours and reduced employee benefits in response.

When asked to clarify his comments about the bill, Ford doubled down on his remarks Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't think this is any surprise," he said. "I talked about this all throughout the campaign. I went from town to town talking about Bill 148."

Ford said the bill has hurt Ontario businesses and meant workers lost their jobs. He wouldn't say if the government planned a full repeal of the bill or changes to part of it, adding that more information would be available in the coming weeks.

"Bottom line, it's an absolute job-killer," he said of the bill. "We want to create more jobs for everyone right across the sector."

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it's not clear, despite Ford's latest comments, just what the government plans to do with the labour reform law. Repealing the legislation will only make life more unstable for workers across the province, she said.

"At the end of the day, dragging us backwards to the days where people couldn't get three weeks vacation or they couldn't get sick time off when they were sick at work, these are things that we worry about," she said.

Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said the premier's declaration hurts workers across the province.

"It does a disservice to the office to not fully consider the direction you're going in," he said. "The premier's not doing that."

Pam Frache, the Ontario co-ordinator of the Fight for $15 and Fairness, a group that supports the law, noted that the government has not yet introduced legislation to replace or repeal Bill 148, despite Ford's comments.

"We still think there's time for the premier to change his mind, to do the right thing and to stand with the people, not with the corporate elites," she said.

Meanwhile, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which represents the province's business community, said it would like the government to repeal Bill 148.

"The very real unintended consequences (of Bill 148) have forced our members to decrease product offerings and increase the price of products being sold, hire fewer employees, reduce services and hours of operation, cut back on employee benefits, and halt capital investment -- all in an effort to stay afloat," president Rocco Rossi said in a statement.

Last year the province's economic watchdog, the Financial Accountability Office, estimated more than 50,000 people could lose their jobs due to the minimum wage increase brought in by the Liberal bill.

Read the BNN Bloomberg full story

By Colin D'Mello

Premier Doug Ford says his government will “get rid” of Bill 148, the labour reform law that raised minimum wage and gave part-time and contract workers job security and protections.

In a surprise statement during question period, Ford announced the repeal of the bill, claiming the issue was top of mind when he talked to “thousands and thousands of people” across the province.

Minutes later, Economic Development Minister Jim Wilson clarified, saying the government is still “consulting” on Bill 148 while confirming that some parts “probably will go.”

The premier was asked about the his decision again during an afternoon press conference, and would only say his government "will talk" about the specific plans. He would not confirm whether the decision had been finalized, but noted his intention to scrap the bill should come as "no surprise." 

The bill, passed by the previous Liberal government last November, brought sweeping labour reforms. It included changes like mandating employees be paid three hours’ worth of wages if a shift was cancelled within 48 hours. The legislation also extended emergency medical leave to ten days, two of which are paid days,and enacted equal pay for equal work.

The bill would also have raised the minimum wage to $15/hour in 2019, but Labour Minister Laurie Scott announced a “pause” last week, freezing wages at$14/hour.

Ford said on Friday wages would likely rise “in two years” without giving any firm commitments on how much of a raise minimum wage employees would get.

Pam Frache, with the group Fight for $15 & Fairness, called the government’s intent to scrap the bill “cruel and egregious.” She defended the emergency leave provision as being a “lifesaver” for families with young children.  

“These are not perks for workers,” Frache told CTV News Toronto “These are basic tools to help people survive.”

Frache stressed that “rolling back labour rights by decades” would affect millions of workers across the province. She is calling on the premier to “do the right thing.”

Ford’s decision is in line with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which called for an “immediate repeal” of Bill 148 in September.

“Bill 148 has led to a substantial decrease in staff hours and capital investment as well as an increased reliance on automation,” said a statement from Rocco Rossi, president of the OCC.

Parts of the law came into effect in 2018 and other portions are scheduled to be implemented in 2019.

Frache said while Ford’s statement was “disappointing,” it isn’t final.

The government will have to enact new legislation that rewrites Ontario’s labour laws.

Read the CTV News full story

By Sarah Mojtehedzadeh, Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson

Two paid sick days are too much.

That was the message Tuesday from Premier Doug Ford, who is poised to dismantle the previous Liberal government’s labour reforms that increased sick day benefits and paid vacation, and were set to raise the minimum wage from $14 an hour to $15 on Jan. 1.