Members of more than a dozen unions marched through the streets of Halifax this Labour Day, discussing their concerns. “The big issues right now are inflation and the lack of affordable housing,” says the president of the Halifax-Dartmouth and District Labour Council. This past year strikes hit ports in British Columbia, grocery stores in Ontario and federal offices across the country. All came to an end after an agreement on wage increases, among other things. “Union members, even though they might’ve had a good contract a couple years ago, that money is not going as far as it used to,” Richardson said. “Over the past number of months you’ve seen a lot of job action,” said Sandra Mullen, the president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union. “Members are to the wall with respect to inflation and the increased cost of everything.” According to Mullen, wages and competition is making it difficult to recruit and retain professionals especially in health care. “Those same qualified folks are sought after by private corporations, by other agencies. It’s the job market like we’ve never seen. When you look at percentages and somebody offers you three per cent and then you hear inflationary numbers of six and seven per cent, it just says automatically, no that is not enough.” The fight is on for those making minimum wage too. Nova Scotia Justice for Workers is a grassroots organization focusing on increasing minimum wage across the province. “Our ask is for $20 minimum wage, that’s the bare minimum that we think all Nova Scotians should be paid and another big call to action, something that we really support is 10 paid sick days for all Nova Scotians,” said Hailie Tattrie. For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
