Living Wage Workshop

Created by the National Anti-Poverty Organization
for the Make the Minimum Wage a Living Wage Campaign

Goals:

• To gain an understanding of what "a living wage" might be in our community.
• To explore how we can take action to make the minimum wage a living wage.

Time required:

2 hours

Suitable for:

Ages 16 and up; church, school, union, women's or other groups who are interested in poverty issues.

Materials you need:

Flip chart and paper, name tags, markers, several calculators, photo copies or a reproduction of the Basic Needs Table on a sheet of newsprint (one for each small group), photo copies of the Living Wage Pay Cheque action cards (at least two for each participant).

You will also need up to date information on what the current minimum wage is and what a family of four on social assistance would receive in your province or territory and information on the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) and Market Basket Measure poverty line measures for your community. You can get this information from the following web sites:

Minimum wages

Minimum Hourly Wage Rates in Canada table from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Social Assistance rates

National Council of Welfare: Welfare Incomes 2004

(Note: Social Assistance rates can be difficult to calculate as depending on the province there are different components such as the basic allowance, shelter allowance, etc. as well as different rates for families according to number of dependents and whether people are deemed to be “employable” or “disabled”. For comparison purposes we would suggest calculating the total of all the components for a family of four for someone considered “employable”. If the document above is not available check the National Council of Welfare web site at www.ncwcnbes.net web site for most recent report.)

Poverty Lines

National Council of Welfare Fact Sheet: 2004 Poverty Line Estimates

Welfare Incomes, Poverty Lines and Average Incomes 2003

2003 Welfare Incomes and Estimated Poverty Line by Province and Household Type

Market Basket Measure

For an explanation of the different ways of measuring poverty see the NAPO Market Basket Measure Overview.

1. Introductions in Large Group (20 minutes)

Ask participants to introduce themselves and say a few words about what they hope to get out of this workshop. (If you have more time you could do an icebreaker activity.) Introduce the workshop goals and steps. Negotiate any changes or adjustments to the goals and agenda in response to what people have said in the introductions. Consider doing one of the icebreakers if you have time.

Break into small groups of 4 or 5 people each and ask them to fill out the chart of Basic Needs in Your Community.

2. Identifying Basic Needs in Your Community (40 minutes)

In small groups of 4 or 5 discuss the following questions and try to fill in the Basic Needs table, indicating what the minimum dollar amount you feel would be needed to provide for the basic needs of a family of four in your community:

• What are the basic needs for a minimum but adequate standard of living or "a life with dignity"? Does the Basic Needs table cover the key categories?
• What other things should be included? (List them in the "Other" rows.)
• What are the costs of providing for the basic needs for a life with dignity for a family of four for each category? (Try and reach some group consensus and fill in the table with the monthly dollar amount.)
• What are luxuries that are not really necessary?
• What things do we also need that are not easily quantifiable, or don't carry a price tag? (For example, family time, social interaction, spiritual nourishment, culture, etc.)
• How should we indicate the real costs for education or health, which in Canada are funded for largely out of what we pay in taxes? What is not covered by government programs?
• How does the total compare with your family income? If your family income is more than the total of basic needs, where does the additional money go? Suggestion: Go with people's comfort level on this question - don't force people to reveal their family income.

3. Sharing Basic Needs Table in Large Group (20 minutes)

Have small groups come together in a large group and have each group share their tables. Record different amounts on flip chart paper. Compare what each group came up with and discuss why different groups came to different conclusions. Calculate the average total of all the groups. Have group guess what someone working full time at a minimum wage job would get. Give the answer (see Materials You Will Need section above for how to get current minimum wage information for your province or territory.) Have group guess what a family of four on social assistance would get. Give the answer. Have group guess what the poverty line is? Provide information on the two most commonly used poverty lines (Low Income Cut Off and Market Basket Measure) Ask:

• How do the totals compare to what a family of four on social assistance would receive in your province or territory?
• How do the totals compare with what one could earn working full time at a minimum wage job?
• How do the totals compare with key poverty line measures (LICO and MBM)?

Discuss what the group thinks minimum wage and social assistance rate should be.

4. What is"A Living Wage" Presentation in large group (20 min.)

Minimum wages are set by each province and territory to protect workers against exploitation. Without minimum wage legislation some employers would pay their workers less than it costs to survive. But the minimum wage rates in most provinces are well below the poverty line, even for someone who is working full time year-round.

While only about 5 % of the work force is paid the minimum wage, almost 20% work for less than $10 an hour. There are 1.4 million Canadians working full-time jobs who make less than $20,000 a year. Youth, women, visible minorities and recent immigrants are more likely to work for wages at or near the minimum wage. Canadian minimum wages are lower than in most other industrial countries.

Raising the minimum wage would not cost governments anything. Experience in other countries has shown that while raising minimum wages results in some adjustments in the labour market, more jobs would be gained than lost.

Note: The presentation above can be modified or expanded according to time available and nature of the participants. It is better to keep the presentation short and have more information to share in response to questions. Additional information on minimum wages can be found at the following web sites: From Poverty Wages to a Living Wage by Chris Schenk, Centre for Social Justice; Raising the Floor, The Social and Economic Benefits of Minimum Wages in Canada, CCPA; Paid to be Poor - CBC Special

Take some time for questions or discussion.

5. Taking Action using "Living Wage Pay Cheques" in large group (10 minutes)

Distribute several copies each of the Living Wage Pay Cheques to participants. Explain:

The National Anti-Poverty Organization has produced Living Wage Pay Cheques as an action tool to mobilize public pressure on low-wage companies to stop paying their workers below the poverty line and to press provincial and territorial governments to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, which is roughly what would be needed for someone working full time would need to escape poverty.

Ask people to fill in the Living Wage Pay Cheque with their name and the name of a low wage company in their community and take them to these companies and ask to speak to the manager, (or mail it to the corporate head office) expressing your concerns about poverty and the need to pay above the poverty line.

Ask people to fill in the Living Wage Pay Cheque addressed to their Provincial Premier or Territorial Leader with their name and address, sign it. Collect cheques and mail them to the Premier/Territorial Leader after the workshop. Even better have people write a personal letter on this topic to their Provincial Premier or Territorial Leader.

Ask if there are any questions. Have extra Living Wage Pay Cheques available for people to take and get others to sign.

6.Evaluation and Closing (10 minutes)

Bring the workshop to a close with a brief evaluation. If the group is less than 20 people go around the circle and give each person a chance to say something. If it is a larger group use a written form but give a chance for some people to share their responses orally in the large group.

Questions you might ask:

• What did you find most challenging or surprising?
• What do you take away with you from this workshop?
• What might have been done differently?

If appropriate close with a song.