Author
|
Topic: Alberta eases child labour laws
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bucanero
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8030
|
posted 25 June 2005 04:06 AM
quote: Originally posted by Cartman:
My understanding is that there still exists a lower minimum wage for youth (vs the minimum wage for adults) here in Alberta.
No, they got rid of that back in 1995 or so. $7 an hour applies to everyone. Click
From: Edmonton | Registered: Jan 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
voice of the damned
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6943
|
posted 25 June 2005 11:29 AM
Just as an observation: Okay, everyone's outraged about this, and rightly so. But haven't some industries been immune from child-labour laws for a long time? I'm thinking here specifically of the entertainment industry, because I can turn on the TV any time I want and see child actors earning money. Plus, I don't think that those are simulacrums modeling kids' clothing in the Sears catalogue. And to my knowlege there has never been a widepread movement to stop these industries from using kids. Is it considered acceptable because they generally pay more money than restaurants? Anyway, just something I've always found a little inconsistent. [ 25 June 2005: Message edited by: voice of the damned ]
From: Asia | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
jeff house
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 518
|
posted 25 June 2005 12:45 PM
quote: But haven't some industries been immune from child-labour laws for a long time? I'm thinking here specifically of the entertainment industry, because I can turn on the TV any time I want and see child actors earning money.
There are quite strict laws concerning child actors. Specifically, their hours of work are controlled, and they must have a guardian on-set who may stop filming if it seems appropriate. They must also have a tutor on set who provides education to any children working on a film. That said, I do think that the relatively unstrenuous nature of the job has some importance. My son was a child actor (now he's a grown-up one); and a typical day would involve perhaps twenty on-camera minutes. The rest of the time he would be studying with the tutor, or relaxing in his trailer, equipped with videos, tv, radio, and an X-box.
From: toronto | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
|
posted 25 June 2005 01:06 PM
Sheesh. I started part-time work at sixteen, and I thought that was good of me. Seriously, Gir: that not early enough for you for the learning of the "work ethic"? (I was a cashier. I loved being a cashier, and I was very good at it. Still my favourite all-time job, except for the evil managers. Evil managers have been the bane of my existence ever since.) Twelve-year-olds should be lying on a lawn somewhere, looking up at the summer clouds as they pass overhead and wondering -- about what makes clouds, about the other places those clouds will go, etc. Or they should be reading books. Or they should be sneaking out mum's copy of Peyton Place to share with their friends. btw, could someone please define "busing" for me, as in to bus a table?
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
|
posted 25 June 2005 02:36 PM
Damn right, acow. Let them have credit -- but don't forget, if they are working and earning, we want them paying taxes too. But wait: if they're paying taxes, I guess they should be voting too. And if they're voting and paying taxes, then shouldn't they be enlisting as well? Twelve-year-olds in lots of other countries pick up guns and join armies -- why not our kids? That'll toughen 'em up. But wait: if they're paying taxes and fighting in foreign lands and all, why can't they drink? Marry a cousin? Man, I call this a slippery slope. Someone warn Ralph.
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
beluga2
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3838
|
posted 25 June 2005 02:59 PM
Of course, Premier-for-Life Klein is merely following in the footsteps of his forward-looking neighbour, Gordon Campbell -- though it looks like not even Ralph's changes go as far back towards Dickens as BC's have. We DO have a different minimum "training wage" ($6/hour) for the first 500 hours of work -- thus the famous "Six Bucks Sucks" slogan. (500 hours of training to flip a burger? Huh?)Also: (we made Znet!) quote: Perhaps most frightening is the fact that the province has shifted from an investigations-based system of assessing the safety of workplaces employing children to a complaints-based system. All that means that not only do we expect a 12-year-old fixing the deep fryer at 2 a.m. to do so for six bucks an hour, but we expect her to assess the safety of her own workplace and, if she feels uncomfortable, we expect her to fill out the paper work to deal with it; perhaps she'll do so in between games of truth or dare and bouts of calling -- and then hanging up on - the boy she likes.
BC, I believe, currently has the most regressive child-labour laws in North America, and possibly in the entire industrialized world. Now it seems another domino (Alberta) has fallen, with hopefully many more to follow in the race to the bottom. Gordo must be proud.
From: vancouvergrad, BCSSR | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Mr. Fishy
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8208
|
posted 25 June 2005 04:38 PM
It's like this ladies and gentlemen:The Alberta economy is so hot right now, there are labour shortages everywhere! Skilled labour, unskilled labour, you name it! 3% unemployment in areas. When unemployment is that low, its because people are picking and choosing there jobs. If you can't get a job in Alberta there is something wrong. Help Wanted signs abound. There are few options available in solving a labour shortage: expand the labour pool or immigration from outside the province.
From: somewhere cold and dry | Registered: Feb 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nam
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3472
|
posted 28 June 2005 06:19 PM
quote: Originally posted by Bucanero:
No, they got rid of that back in 1995 or so. $7 an hour applies to everyone. Click
Uh, $7.00/hour only kicks in September 1, after the summer is over. As for the bigger questions this issue brings up, I'm amazed that in 2005 we are actually having this debate. Yes, yes, I know we are talking about Ralphland, but.... This is sad and so wrong.
From: Calgary-Land of corporate towers | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1275
|
posted 07 July 2005 06:31 PM
Really? quote: Originally posted by Bucanero:
No, they got rid of that back in 1995 or so. $7 an hour applies to everyone. Click
Oh, I see. Ralphie and the boys announced an increase, then made sure no one would see it for a while. $5.90 is disgusting, BTW, and Albertans should have been outraged about it. No one can live on such wages. [ 07 July 2005: Message edited by: Lard tunderin' jeesus ]
From: ... | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Nam
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3472
|
posted 08 July 2005 03:10 PM
The wage rate in Calgary is now being talked about in this thread and another. Yesterday, I had some time in the afternoon so I headed down Macleod Trail to check out some of those ads. The result was not unexpected.First place - a food store offering "starting wages" at $8.50. They forget to mention on their billboard that a training wage of $7.00 applies, and I couldn't get a straight answer on how long until I would be considered trained. Second place - a restuarant/bar needing help, paying "above average wages" according to the large, colourful sign. Further investigation reveals "above average wage" means minimum wage plus tips. Yes, could be well-paying, but some staff I snuck a chat with said my job would end with Stampede over. Third place - a large chain drugstore, large sign saying "starting wages up to $11.00 plus benefits". Thinking I had hit the jackpot, found out in reality they weren't taking applications for anything except nighttime stock-shelving, paying $6.50 to start, no benefits, and probably only two shifts per week. Fourth place - there was no fourth place as I headed back downtown, found an outdoor patio, had a cold beer, and thought about all the lying asshats would live in this city.
From: Calgary-Land of corporate towers | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Rufus Polson
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3308
|
posted 08 July 2005 04:28 PM
quote: Originally posted by Gir Draxon:
Certainly the expected result for one afternoon of looking at a limited number of jobs none of which required much in the way of skills, education, or experience. But then again, is it really reasonable to expect a starting wage of $19/hour with benefits for jobs that don't require any of the above?
What it's reasonable to expect and what certain rah-rah types have been claiming are not necessarily the same thing. Nam didn't say he was surprised--he was saying that his anecdotal evidence contradicts the claims put forward with no evidence at all, that jobs are always $8.50 or more. Now you may not have said that, in which case you might surmise that he's not arguing with you.
From: Caithnard College | Registered: Nov 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|