On this week’s episode of Left Politics, History and Culture:
Jason Kenney’s New United Conservative (UCP) government in Alberta has made one of its first policy moves: it will introduce a student minimum wage which will affect those 17 and younger. They will have minimum wages two dollars lower than all other workers.
This is a clear effort to discriminate against young workers, but it is more than that. This is an effort to lower labour standards for everyone, but in the long term, it is an attempt to lower the expectations that young workers will have for decent pay, benefits, and job security.
All of this can be connected to a trend in recent years, where young people often have lower wages, benefits, pensions, and security than older workers doing the exact same job. This is unacceptable, and if we want a future where good jobs exist for more than the children of the elite, we need ensure good jobs exist for young workers today.
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