Minimum wage workers appreciate the small, but impactful, pay increase
By Astara van der Jagt
Minimum wage earners no longer have to reach as far into their pockets as they once did. On Nathan Estabrooks’ way to work, he says he used to wonder whether he could splurge a little and buy a snack.
As of Jan. 1, Ontario’s hourly minimum wage increased from $11.60 to $14. Estabrooks, a 19-year-old Dollar It employee, said he no longer has to worry much about budgeting.
“I can now get a chocolate bar before I leave work, or get a nice bottle of pop; not just the regular ones, but the specialty ones like Stewart’s or Jones,” he said.
When Estabrooks received his first paycheque this January, he went to eat pizza with several of his friends to celebrate.
With the extra saving and spending room, Estabrooks said he plans to buy a Corsair compact gaming computer. The computer is “really expensive,” costing $3,000 or more, but “worth it” because it can run things at maximum speed without any lag or technical difficulties.
Jay Italia, an 18-year-old part-time Subway employee, said the difference in pay is more than noticeable. Working 20 hours a week, he will now receive about $200 more each month.
The management at the Subway on 414 Bank St., where Italia works, have said they will likely lay off one or two employees in the coming month, which could amount to cutting the sandwich shop’s workforce in half.
In spite of this, Italia said the wage increase paves the way for opportunities to save more money and to buy a good smartphone.
“You don’t realize how much you need to upgrade a Samsung A3 (until) your paycheque gets bigger,” he chuckled.
Sara Eddaya, a 22-year-old international student from Morocco, started working at another Subway last fall. Eddaya said it was a “step backwards,” as she had previously earned $14 an hour elsewhere over the summer.
She said her lifestyle changed significantly when her wage decreased by $2.40 an hour.
“For four months, I couldn’t go shopping, eat outside, or go out a lot,” Eddaya said. “I also had to struggle to think about my rent and a lot of fees that I have to pay.”
Not only can Eddaya return to a more comfortable lifestyle where she no longer has to constantly worry about money, but she said the minimum wage increase will enable her to realize her dream of going to Europe in July.
Germany, Spain, and France seemed too far away for her before, she said.
A GoPro 5, a Nikon camera and a backpack are some of the things Eddaya listed as necessities to prepare for her trip. Those items cost a lot of money, she admitted, but they are now things she’s able to afford.
“Thank God I am working somewhere that can afford to have the same number of employees that it used to have before the minimum wage increase,” she said, acknowledging that many minimum wage earners might not be as lucky.
It is up to individual employers to reduce their workforce, but to expect the same amount of work from fewer employees is unfair, according to Estabrooks.
“Most people working the minimum wage are working really hard, and cannot keep up with those kinds of expectations because of human limitations,” he said.