Living Wage Week

By the time you get next month’s newsletter, we will have celebrated Living Wage Week 2019, which will be November 4th to the 10th.

With our own Living Wage Week we are following the lead of the UK living wage movement, and will releasing our new and updated calculations on the first Monday of November. Many other activities have become tradition as well; informational business breakfasts, media sessions where new local living wage employers are celebrated, meet-and-greets with local leaders and more.

Last year we released 16 new or updated local calculations of the living wage. This year there will be at least 17 updates from communities with current living wage calculations, and 4 brand new calculations. This brings our local calculation count to 26 regions.

One of the most frequent inquiries we get relates to the lack of complete coverage for the province. Together with the local organizers that make up this network, we are working towards a day when Ontario is the largest contiguous area in the world covered by local living wage rates.

Calculating and peer-reviewing living wage calculations is an arduous process, and we have our many local organizers to thank for their time and regional expertise to get the OLWN to 26 regions. Without them, our map of active calculations would be mostly empty.

We’ll be sending out another email on the morning of November 4th with all our living wage rate announcements and events for that week. If you’re a local organizer and would like yours included, please let me know.

We can also share your announcements via our social media and website channels during and prior to living wage week as well. We’ll be using the hashtag #livingwageweek in all our tweets and Facebook posts, and encourage you to do the same.

See you out there,

Craig Pickthorne Communications & Development Coordinator

Ontario Living Wage Network

[email protected]

P.S.

We've noticed a lot of newsletter signups via the link we provide in these newsletters. If you haven't done so already, please forward this to anyone you think might like to hear about the living wage in Ontario, where they can click to subscribe:

In this update: SELECTED MEDIA COVERAGE | FEATURED EMPLOYER | LIVING WAGE MATERIALS IN THE WILD

SELECTED MEDIA COVERAGE

• The Simcoe County Poverty Reduction Task Group and Anne Coleman, Campaign Manager with the OLWN presented the case for becoming a living wage employer to Barrie City Council last month. It was the latest of several such trips for Anne this year. As is the norm there was decent local media interest and coverage: Simcoe.com: "One Job Should Be Enough" & Barrie Today: implications of becoming a living-wage employer

• The local living wage movement in London is getting a boost from an economic task force, headed by the London Poverty Research Centre at King’s University College, themselves a certified living wage employer. In their effort to explore solutions to the precarious work situation in London, they ask “How do we look at the economy and economic development in a way that’s going to benefit a broader segment of the population?” The living wage is one of three identified focus areas: London Free Press coverage
  

• More earned media coverage for the living wage in Niagara region, as the local organizing group Niagara Poverty Reduction Network certifies their 26^th living wage employer: Modern Landfill Inc. 610CKTB News coverage

FEATURED EMPLOYER

Each month we'll showcase a different living wage employer. This month it’s Drummond Brothers Landscaping of Mitchell, in the municipality of West Perth.

In a sector characterized by temporary and seasonal work, it’s great to count them as a certified living wage employer:

"Becoming a Living Wage Employer is important to us, because our employees deserve it. They are hard working, qualified individuals who we have gotten to know on a personal and professional level. We know what it is like to struggle to get by on a day-to-day basis, and so, it is important to us to provide a living wage to our employees."

DECALS IN THE WILD

Are you a certified living wage employer with a vehicle(s)? Let us know if you’d like to display your certification status to the world with a vehicle decal. They’re two-sided and can adhere to glass or painted surfaces. Contact Craig at [email protected]

We look forward to seeing more of our promotional materials out in the wild.