Don't you see how it makes it an unlevel playing field?
When people don't make what the job is worth and don't put that money back into the economy how it effects us all?
Forklift jobs in Ontario are now offering less money than I made in 1981!
Don't you see how this lowers the standard of living and will only continue to do so?
As prices for everything continue to rise, wages are declining.
I'm happy, really, I'm happy that you are enjoying a good arrangement with your employer, I can remember similar times in Ontario in the 70's and early 80's.
When the boom ends in Alberta and jobs become more scarce we'll see if the employers treat people as good then.
I think we both know the answer and if the unions are weakened the way they have been in Ontario, well, it'll be the same outcome.
I've seen ads for heavy equipment operators, $17/hour, work at Honda on the line, $17/hour,
forklift operators as low as $11/hour.
Average rent in GTA, for a 1 bedroom is $1000/month, gas 1.25/litre, car insurance, $1000/year,
On $22,000 a year, the math doesn't work.
No, I don't see an unlevel playing field. From experience, union-indifferent persons will find another job if they don't feel they are being paid their worth or don't enjoy what they are doing. On the other hand, a strongly pro-union person will stay with a company no matter how unhappy with the job. Why? I don't know. Possibly because they also tend to be the ones who rely on the Union to keep them employed due to lack of compliance or lack of performance or otherwise (pure speculation and some opinion, not painting all pro-Union persons with the same brush). I've known some very decent pro-union persons and were friends with them for a good long while.
As for the average rent in GTA, this is a perfect time to prove the whole "standard of living" and "cost of living" thing. Take for example Edmonton, where I'm familiar with.
I rented a two bedroom basement suite for $950/month. Took me forever of shopping around and it wasn't a great neighbourhood, but it fit what we could afford. Insurance, on average, is not cheap. When I first moved to AB, I was quoted anywhere from $3750 to $4450 as a 24 y/o with no accidents, 1 ticket and a driving history going back almost 8 years. Our gas prices tend to be lower than Ontario, but being that the gas is refined here for most of the process, that makes sense. I was making anywhere from $13/hour to $25/hour depending on the job I was at, at the time. "Average Household income in Edmonton is $99,000."
Now, move to Fort McMurray. Persons working at a McDonalds flipping burgers could be paid around the $20/hour. "Average Household income in Fort McMurray is $177,000". Average rent/mortgage is in excess of $2,000/month. Average cost of food is in excess of $1200/month. Here's a table from
http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/living_222 ... Living.htm (Fort McMurray decentralized their municipal government a few years back and is now the "Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo":
Item/Service | Average cost per year (Wood Buffalo) | Average cost per year (Alberta)
Food | $14,569 | $8,430
Shelter | $26,701 | $14,235
Clothing | $5,472 | $3,115
Transportation | $21,492 | $10,103
Health & Personal Care | $5,930 | $3,189
So, with the increased wages brought to you by Unions (much of the work up there is heavily unionized), you also brought along a dramatic increase in the cost of living. Forget living on $22,000/year, you can't survive there on $60,000/year.
Heading out for Thanksgiving, so I don't have time to continue and that's why my thoughts are a little unorganized. Happy Thanksgiving!