Living Wage Campaign Information
Thousands of British Columbians who work for multinational
corporations in our public hospitals struggle to support themselves and their families.
They are the workers who clean hospitals and provide food to patients. They are essential to infection control and patient care, but many are forced to take two or three jobs, just to make ends meet.
At the same time, health authorities have handed over more than $640 million in contracts to the companies who provide these services.
That’s why HEU has launched a campaign to make health authorities
and government accountable for ensuring that all workers in their
facilities have living wages and safe working conditions.
Sign the petition now.
Privatization and low wages in health care don't just harm workers and their families, they also undermine community wellbeing and quality health care services.
What is a living wage?
A living wage allows workers and their families to live with dignity and security. It is a rate of pay that allows people to maintain a safe and healthy standard of living for themselves and their families, while saving for future needs and goals.Here’s how some workers – employed by multinational corporations Sodexo, Aramark and Compass – have described a living wage:
"A sustainable income to support my family and cope with the high standard of living within the province."
- Nancy
"A living wage to me is where I am able to earn enough to run my household smoothly without having to use my credit options. I do not have to work two jobs to make ends meet, I can afford to send my children to college and have a peace of mind. I do not want to worry about everything each day."
- Harkiran"A living wage would be make enough as to not have to worry about how much is going to be left to live on after paying rent, car insurance, groceries and things like surprise emergencies."
- Carson"It means I don’t have to look for another job, that I can afford to send my kids to extra activities and provide a healthy living for my kids."
- ManilaPrivatization and low wages
Since taking power, the B.C. Liberal government has handed more and more
public services - like dietary and cleaning services in hospitals – over to large corporations.
These multinational companies make big profits off of public contracts. And it’s costing B.C. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. At the same time, they do not pay their workers fair, family-supporting wages and benefits. This means that public dollars are being used to pay poverty wages to health care workers and others.
Living wage campaign success stories
Over 130 U.S. cities and counties have enacted local living wage laws that tie wage and working condition standards to government contracts.
In the U.K., the Greater London Authority introduced a fair employment clause into its contracting procedures in 2002. Several of London’s large financial institutions and hospitals have also implemented fair wage policies or practices covering contract workers in their facilities.
In Canada, living wage coalitions are expanding in almost every province. Organizations and individuals across the country are recognizing that living wages are an important anti-poverty tool, essential for healthy families and communities.
Many groups and coalitions have advocated for living wages. Some of them are:
Campaign 2000, a non-partisan Canada-wide network of 120 organizations committed to ending child and family poverty in Canada.
The Community Social Planning Council of Victoria engaged both employers and workers in dialogue to advocate for the advantages of living wages that can support a family.
Vibrant Communities Calgary, an organization that develops and supports creative and innovative poverty reduction strategies in their community, is engaged in a campaign to get the City of Calgary to adopt a living wage policy for all city contracts.
