The FTQ is eagerly awaiting the next minimum wage hike. The central union, which currently supports a rate of $18 an hour, plans to ask for even more when Quebec announces its soon-to-be-anticipated annual increase.
Posted 12:18pm Updated 4:27pm
“We accepted a position at $18 an hour, but that position will be reviewed if the economic situation changes. And it has changed,” said FTQ President Daniel Boyer at a press conference on Tuesday.
The general minimum wage in Quebec is $14.25 per hour.
The increases, which usually go into effect on May 1st, are often announced around the turn of the year. The Legault government unveiled the latest hike on January 14, 2022 and the previous one on December 16, 2020.
It’s pretty certain we’ll be getting more than $18 an hour because even the Prime Minister tells us that $18 an hour won’t get you there.
Daniel Boyer, President of the FTQ
“Frankly speaking, it’s difficult to arrive at $18 an hour, especially when you have children,” admitted François Legault on December 8 during question time before the National Assembly.
The minimum wage will be raised in 2023, but “we always have to be careful” and make sure “that we come to help more than to lose jobs,” warned the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ). Instead, his government expects an increase in the average salary. “We want people who are making $25 an hour — which is about the average in Quebec — to go up to $26, $27, $28. That’s our goal,” he said.
“Over $1 an hour”
Quebec raised the minimum hourly wage by $0.75 last year and $0.40 last year. That’s well below the $3.75 the government would have to charge employers if it wanted to increase the current hourly rate to $18.
Faced with inflation, “in the near future it will need to rise above $1 an hour” to prevent “the poorest in society from continuing to become poor”, pleaded FTQ Secretary General Denis Bolduc.
“7% inflation at $14.25 means a dollar an hour,” argued Mr. Bolduc.
Inflation reached 6.8% in Quebec last November after rising to 8% in June.
The new minimum wage demanded by the FTQ will not be set at its scheduled congress next week, but “in consensus” with “union and civil society organizations,” Boyer said.
The December 2022 consumer price index will be released on January 17 by Statistics Canada.