Thread by @ABFedLabour

Here’s a “fun” fact: Kenney’s $13/hour minimum wage for students includes fines for those who refuse to tell their boss their education status.

$500 for the 1st offense.
$1,000 for the 2nd offense.
$2,000 for the 3rd & subsequent offenses.
#ableg #cdnpoli
[thread]

That’s right, in @jkenney's Alberta, it’s OK to pay students $2/hour less than other minimum-wage workers. It’s also OK to fine students starting at $500 for those who refuse to tell their boss their education status so they can be paid less than other workers.
#ableg #cdnpoli

Section 9(4) of the Employment Standards Regulation states that a worker “MUST PROVIDE, on the request of the employee’s employer, the information necessary for the employer to determine the minimum wage applicable to the employee..." (emphasis added)
#AbLeg #cdnpoli

This means a worker under 18 must tell their boss their education status to get paid $13/hour - $2/hour less than the general minimum wage of - or face a $500 fine for the first offence.

Labour and Immigration Minister @JasonCoppingAB justified the lower minimum wage for students under 18 years old because, he said, “There is a youth jobs crisis in Alberta.”

Cutting wages for students, you see, was the UCP’s “plan to get youth back to work!”
#ableg #cdnpoli

Minister @JasonCoppingAB and @jkenney argued that by cutting wages, they’ll increase employment.
Has it worked?
No.
Cutting the minimum wage for young student workers has not increased employment. Alberta’s youth unemployment rate is the highest in Canada.
#ableg #cdnpoli

It should be noted that @jkenney and @JasonCoppingAB have been sitting on a report to rollback wages for workers who earn tips. It looks like they’ll use the same argument: lower wages means more work.
#ableg #cdnpoli

And a variation of this argument is being used with nurses' wages: accept lower wages or some of you will be fired.
All Alberta workers should care about this low-wage agenda. Jason Kenney's "solution" to unemployment is lower wages.
una.ca/1261/important…
#AbLeg #cdnpoli

In closing...
Are you a young worker who’s been fined for not telling you boss your education status?
Do you know a young worker who’s been fined under the UCP’s unfair and punitive low-wage scheme?
Send us a message. We’d like to hear from you.
#ableg #cdnpoli