The Equal Pay Coalition was formed in 1976 as a coalition of organizations to seek the implementation of equal pay for work of equal value both through legislation and collective bargaining. The Coalition has over 39 constituent and partner groups which represent Ontario women and men who support equal pay for work of equal value . See About Us for more information.

Show us the money!

The minimum wage is an increasingly important means of addressing poverty. In the absence of social programs such as affordable housing and child care, low-income earners are left to rely on the minimum wage to try and make ends meet. More than a million workers in Ontario are struggling to make ends meet on wages of less than $10 an hour, working in jobs where they are underpaid and undervalued. Most low-wage jobs are not found in small business - instead they are with retail giants, fast food chains, or temp agencies. Why should wealthy companies be allowed to pay poverty wages?
The Ontario budget in March 2007 contained mixed messages in response to the ongoing campaign by labour councils, unions and community groups to raise the minimum wage. While the efforts of thousands of labour and community activists across the province convinced the Ontario Liberals to increase the minimum wage to $10.25/hour, increase social assistance and disability rates by 2%, and to propose an Ontario Child Benefit (OCB) as a program protected by its status in law, these changes are not enough!

The minimum wage does not increase at all until next year, and it only reaches $10.25/hour as of 2011. The fact is that if minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be $10 today. By 2011, people who will be paid that increase will still be living in poverty because of inflation in the meantime. Further, not to raise it at all until next year does nothing now to help people who are in poverty, despite the raises in recent years.

Social assistance and disability rate increases by 2% is a mere token increase when compared to the money that recipients have not received during years of cutbacks and also no increases.

While the OCB could be a positive signal that the structure of assistance will mean more money eventually for recipients, it's not clear as of April 2007 how this will be administered. It seems that the clawback has not really been ended, if one measures that by recipients getting an increase of the $122/month per child clawed back now.

No matter how you look at it, the increases fall far short of what the Ontario Needs a Raise Campaign (ONR) is demanding – and what low-income families need just to survive. Anti-poverty groups, organizations and low-income people continue to organize across the province to push for increases to social assistance that reflect the REAL cost of living, a $10 minimum wage increase now, and an end to the clawback of the NCBS.

Campaign activities:


Further campaign resources: