Workers Set Their Sights on a $14 Minimum Wage

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 13, 2013) - On Saturday, September 14 workers from across the GTA will be converging outside Toys "R" Us at Toronto's Dufferin Mall, to call for a minimum wage increase that brings workers out of poverty.

According to the Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage, Toys "R" Us is part of a powerful lobby organization that has been campaigning to keep Ontario wages low, despite making over $200 million in profit during last year's fourth quarter.

"The president of Toys "R" Us Canada actually chairs the board of the Retail Council of Canada," said Kristine Carbis, Freedom 90 Steering Committee Member, Newmarket. "During the last election, the Retail Council of Canada campaigned to freeze the minimum wage and is now calling for a lower minimum wage for inexperienced workers."

"In light of this, we were shocked when Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne appointed the RCC to her government's Minimum Wage Advisory Panel," said Kay Bisnath, President of ACORN Canada.

"Minimum wage workers' full-time earnings are already nearly 20% below the poverty line," said Lily Baumgarten, Steering Committee member of Put Food in the Budget. "Premier Wynne needs to stand up for Ontario workers, not line up with already profitable corporations."

Also in Toronto, community members are organizing a Jane and Finch Street Party for a $14 minimum wage. September 14 is a provincial day of action to raise the minimum wage. Actions are taking place in 12 cities across the province.

For more information on the campaign, visit www.raisetheminimumwage.ca.

Follow the campaign Twitter account @fairwagesnow and hashtag #14now.

The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage is coordinated by ACORN, Freedom 90, Mennonite New Life Centre, OCAP, Ontario Campaign 2000, Parkdale Community Legal Services, Put Food in the Budget, Social Planning Toronto, Toronto and York Region Labour Council and Workers' Action Centre.