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Hear students discuss under-reported news on CJTR's Human Rights Radio

Some 30 employers and business representatives in Hamilton, Ontario – including the public school board and the Chamber of Commerce – have signed pledges to pay workers a living wage.

Hamilton City Council is now preparing to debate in 2016 whether or not the city will make itself a “living wage city employer.” This would affect people who work directly for the City of Hamilton as well as those who are contracted to work for the city. If the policy is adopted, Hamilton would be the second Ontario city, after Cambridge, to adopt a living wage policy.

Nationwide, the first Canadian living wage city was proclaimed in 2011 by the City of New Westminster, B.C., which pegged the region’s living wage at $CD 20.68 per hour. According to anti poverty groups a living wage in Hamilton is $14.95 per hour. The concept of living wages has gained steam in the United States, where several cities have adopted policies to raise their employees’ wages above the poverty line.

The original story was published on Rabble.ca, an independent news website. This story is highly relevant in that rising income inequality has become a major issue throughout North America, specifically the issue of whether wages are keeping pace with the cost of living.

 

Sources:

Tom Cooper, “Hamilton city by-election puts living wage in the spotlight,” Rabble.ca, March 15, 2016.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/behind-numbers/2016/03/hamilton-city-byelection-puts-living-wage-policy-spotlight

City of New Westminster, “Living wage employer,” http://www.newwestcity.ca/business/living_wage_employer/living-wage-policy-and-declaration

 

Student researcher: Michael Joel-Hansen (University of Regina)

Faculty supervisor: Patricia W. Elliott (University of Regina)

 

About this project

“Project Censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism.”
—Walter Cronkite

The School of Journalism's Top 25 Under-Reported Stories was developed in partnership with Project Censored. Project Censored was founded in 1976 as part of a media literacy course in Sonoma, California. Today it is operated by the Media Freedom Foundation. Hundreds of students across the U.S. and around the world contribute information about under-reported stories. Every year, the Media Freedom Foundation picks 25 to publish in their annual book. Project Censored on the Web.