Huron Expositor, 2007-02-14, Page 9News
The Huron Expositor • February 14, 2007 Page 9
Local welcome $8
minimum wage
Huron workers still belowovert line y at Tess than $10 an hour, argues activist
Jeff H e u c h e r t local businesses. Huron County health unit Kayla minimum wage, when you consider
"(A $2 increase) would be counter Glynn says it .is possible on a $8 an Ontario's poverty line, Hanington
productive. Employers would be lay- hour salary to eat a healthy diet. says it is unlikely to happen, since
ing off staff," he says. "A gradual "But there are a lot of things you the government is fearful of the pos-
increase is a better way to go. would have to have in place," she sible repercussions.
There's no backlash from a hiring adds. "If they were to make (the mini -
point of view." Glynn says a person has to have a mum wage). $10 an hour, there
Executive director for Women number of resources in place if they would be a big portion of people that
Zbday of Huron and member of the hope to eat healthy on a minimum would want a proportional increase
Huron Social Justice Coalition Pam wage salary. in their wage," she says.
Hanington says $8 an hour is still She says they need to be able to Hanington adds that there is also
not enough for those living in budget their expenses, have a the age-old debate that there is only
Ontario. kitchen with the necessary appli- so much money to go around, and if
"Across the province, $10 an hour ances, know how to prepare meals, wages were to be increased substan-
is the poverty line for a single per- and most importantly, have the time tially, there might be fewer jobs
son working a full time job. By only to do so. available as a result.
making $8, they're still missing the Glynn says that people are in a She points out that despite the
mark by 20 per cent," she says. disadvantage in Huron County, belief that Huron County is a rela-
And the problem is magnified in since for many people there is no tively cheap area to live in, it's not.
Huron County, she adds, since there nearby grocery store. She says that while the housing
aren't many full time opportunities She says many people will pick up market is cheaper than most sur -
available. their food either at convenience rounding areas, necessities like
"We just don't have the big eco- stores or gas stations, where "they'll transit, fuel and food are much
nomic engine driving our communi- end up getting more expensive, poor more expensive, due to lack of com-
ties and we don't have a lot of good quality food."
petition.
paying full time jobs," she says. While she says there's an obvious "We have a serious problem with
Public health nutritionist with the need for another increase to the poverty in Huron County," she says.
While the recent increase of mini-
mum wage in Ontario from $7.75 to
$8 an hour is welcomed by several
local businesses, they say it's
unlikely to have any real effect
when it comes down to their bottom
lines.
The provincial government's
bump in minimum wage, which took
effect Feb. 1, was the last in a series
of increases over the last four years.
Prior to that, minimum wage was
fixed at $6.85 for nearly 10 years.
For some local businesses, such as
Terry's Family Restaurant, which
employs around 14 part-time staff,
the official increase in minimum
wage is inconsequential, since
they've been paying $8 an hour for
over a year now.
"We always try and stay ahead of
the government," says Terry's owner
Terry Smith. "It helps keep (the
employees) around."
President of the Seaforth
Business Improvement Area (BIA)
Pete Klaver agrees with Smith and
adds that there are many local busi-
nesses that have been paying more
than minimum wage for quite some
time.
Since there are very few large
businesses around Seaforth and
Huron East with a large number of
employees earning minimum wage,
Klaver says it should be business as
usual for owners.
"For that big of an increase, I
can't see it affecting a lot of people
other than maybe some students or
young people just entering the work
force," he says.
The provincial government has
said not to expect another increase
to the minimum wage any time
soon, despite criticism that the rate
is still too low and an increase to
$10 an hour would be more appro-
priate.
The 25 -cent increase puts
Ontario on par with British
Columbia and soon-to-be Manitoba
and Quebec, but still behind the
northern territories, which earn as
high as $8.50 an hour.
Manager at the Seaforth Shell gas
station Karen Martin says her
employees start at minimum wage
and agrees that $10 would be a
much closer wage to what they actu-
ally deserve.
"(Eight dollars an hour) is not
enough for what our staff does," she
arSt
4t • : .;tuirk )rd Car DeteCt1V6
RR H1 HEARTLAND
icy you RY
CREDIT UNION
HOMER SABBE'S 1931 MODEL A FORD
By Bill Sherk "The Old Car Detective"
In a recent email, Lari Sabbe writes: "Homer Sabbe (of Colchester,
Ont.) is my father-in-law. He is 84 years old. He loves. reading your
CarStory column and wrote his story one day after reading your column."
It's a charming story and here it is:
"You might say I'm kind of a pack rat. The other day I was looking
P for some black paint to make a sign, when I came across a can of
Canadian Tire Armour Coat auto paint I had left over from when I
painted my first car in 1942. When I opened it up, the paint was still in
perfect condition.
"In 1942, most of my school friends had old $loo cars. They were
over almost every night working on their cars because my dad had an
1 old workshop with electricity, quite a few tools, and a wood stove that
he kept going. You couldn't buy tires during the war so you had to
patch them every night.
"One day on Centre St1'eet in front of McDonalds Box Factory I saw
this nice Model A Ford with a sign: 'For Sale $200 CASH Leo Arquette:
inquire within.' I talked my mother out of $200 and on Saturday night
went into the factory where he was making boxes for shipping war
parts and asked about buying his car.
"He told me it didn't run right but he would let me have it for $140
ca� i gave him the money and took the ownership.
` I then went into Russell Walter's garage to talk to my long-time
school churn, Melvin Fox, now an apprentice mechanic. We went for a
test drive as far as the East Harrow gas station, where he pulled in
under the lights, pulled out a pair of pliers and took my distributor
apart. He adjusted the timing and we jumped hack in. She ran like
new. It went 55 miles an hour wide open. With a little soap and water
and a can of black paint, I now had my own wheels, even though the
back two wheels were bald. I only had one flat - and that ended up hap-
pening in the Detroit -Windsor Tunnel, which was quite traumatic!
"Now I was able to get me a date. I wined her and dined her and took
her to the show. After three years she insisted we get married. Well, if
says, adding that their company
you thought having a flat in the tunnel was traumatic, I then had to sell
does offer bonus incentives for staff my first love for $25o.
where they can reach a salesoal
g "I never saw my Model A Ford again, but now, when I look at her
and earn some extra money. picture, I get a couple of tears in my eyes. If I had kept her instead of
Klaver says if the government the can of paint; I could be going to all the antique car shows and win -
were to bump the minimum wage ping big bucks!"
directly to $10 an hour, it could Do you have any car stories or photos to share with our readers?
have a negative impact on smaller Email: bill@carstory.com or write Bill Sherk, 33 Oak St. E., P.O. Box
10012, Leamington, ON N8H 2C3.
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