Today the government of Nova Scotia announced that it would be raising the minimum wage on April 1st by $1 an hour bringing it up to $12.55 per hour. This is the most substantial increase to Nova Scotia’s minimum wage since 2010, and it is no coincidence that it comes on the heels of two years of rallies, protests, petitions, and a sustained pressure campaign led by the Fight for 15 campaign and local unions.

Fight for Fifteen and Fairness Halifax is celebrating this partial victory, and is encouraging the broader community, especially low-wage workers to get involved as we push for an even larger increase to the minimum wage next year. The jump to $12.55 is something to celebrate today, but the fight for a $15 minimum wage and Fairness in the workplace continues tomorrow as $12.55 is still not enough to lift tens of thousands of Nova Scotians above the poverty line.

“We needed this substantial minimum wage raise due to a decade of our wages falling behind,” states Hailie Tattrie, organizer with the Fight for $15 & Fairness Halifax. “What we need now is a commitment from the government to bring full time minimum wage workers and people on income assistance above the poverty line. We all deserve to live healthy lives and work in healthy workplaces.”

As the provincial election nears we intend to fight for commitments from all parties to raise the minimum wage even further and to bring in much-needed reforms to labour standards in this province. Nova Scotia still has the lowest number of statutory holidays in Canada; we still have work the highest number of hours per week before reaching overtime; and we still do not have job stability or successorship rights for contracted workers. The elimination of the inexperienced minimum wage is a welcome start to these reforms, one that we’ve been explicitly campaigning for and are celebrating today, but there are so many improvements we still need to win.

Join us at:
Fightfor15halifax.ca

Hailie Tattrie, Fight for $15 & Fairness Halifax 902-297-1260