Abstract

MAKING A LIVING:
MOUNTING A LIVING WAGE MOVEMENT IN CANADA

Duncan Cameron

Poverty wages contribute to poor civic health. Compared especially to Euroland, Canada and the U.S. both have large percentages of low-wage workers. This papers focuses on one answer to the question of what to do about it: the concept of a living wage.

The starting point is that people should be able to afford to live in the cities where they are employed. A living wage movement entails low wage earners acting in combination with others as voters and citizens. Over the years various strategies have been adopted to improve working conditions for people. Social policy measures include minimum wages but focus generally on non-wage initiatives such as services. By and large wage issues have been left to unions to address at the bargaining table. Recently U.S. community activists have led campaigns in favour of living wages. Typically the objective is to get an employer that is publicly funded, such as a municipality, to adopt a policy of only signing service contracts with companies that pay an agreed living wage. In the case of municipalities the objective is to get city councils to pass an ordinance; Baltimore is one example among several in the U.S. Other targets include the wages paid by organizations receiving public funds such as Universities. For instance the high profile Harvard campaign focuses on poverty wages paid by that wealthy institution.

This paper has three parts. First, it will outline, examine, and evaluate the possible strategic objectives for a living wage movement. Second, it will present a model of how a campaign for a living wage could be organized in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. Third, it will discuss the social significance of a living wage movement.

Bio

Born in Victoria B.C. in 1944, Duncan Cameron has taught political science at the University of Ottawa since 1975. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta and has a doctorat from the University of Paris I (Paris-Sorbonne). Formerly with the Department of Finance (Ottawa) he was financial advisor to the Canadian Delegation at the United Nations General Assembly in 1967.

He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of 11 books including Ethics and Economics (with Gregory Baum). The Other Macdonald Report (with Daniel Drache), The Free Trade Papers, The Free Trade Deal, Canada Under Free Trade (with Mel Watkins) and Constitutional Politics (with Miriam Smith).

He is a past President of the Quebec Political Science Association, and was the Editor of the Canadian Forum from 1989 until 1998. He was the President of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives from 1988 until 2000.

He has lectured in the United States, the U.K., France, Mexico, and every Canadian province. His work has appeared in This Magazine, the Globe and Mail, the Financial Post, the Ottawa Citizen, Le devoir, and various academic publications.

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