Mayor Cam Guthrie flashed a little of his true blue financial colours during a city committee meeting Monday afternoon.
The city’s Corporate Services Committee was debating a motion by councilor Phil Allt, seconded by councilor June Hofland, that asked city staff to look into bringing all city full-time employees up to the minimum living wage for full time workers with benefits of $14.95.
There are currently 27 sorters at the city’s Waste Resource Innovation Centre that make just under that through a collective bargaining agreement with their union that doesn’t expire until 2019.
Guthrie, one of five members of the committee, made it clear several times that he believes in the free market and if two people agree to a wage, it isn’t up to government to intervene in a “consensual adult agreement.”
“The left always seem to make this a moral, ethical issue and it’s not,” Guthrie said. “This is straight up business and economics.”
Hofland immediately objected to the use of the word “left” and Guthrie immediately apologized.
“Everyone knows I’m a free market guy,” Guthrie said.
The city estimates it would only cost $5,000 to bring the 27 sorters up to the minimum living wage as established by the Guelph and Wellington Living Wage Task Force for Poverty Elimination.
The task force eventually would like the city to move towards promoting doing business with vendors who pay all their employees minimum living wage, which is a figure calculated based on numerous factors, including geographical location.
Guthrie and others at the committee meeting felt that bringing the 27 sorters up to the level could be solved in the next contract with the sorters union.
Bringing those 27 sorters up to minimum living wage would allow the city to be a supporter of the Living Wage Employer Recognition Program that promotes businesses moving towards and promoting the living wage.
“It should be a civic responsibility” to make sure all employees reach that benchmark, said councilor James Gordon, attending the committee meeting as a visiting councilor, not a member.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Randalin Ellery, who authored the task force report.
“It’s about the city setting an example,” Allt said.
Councilor Christine Billings said the city already knows what it takes to get those 27 up to living wage: the $5,000 indicated in the report, so there was no need to ask staff to do any more work on the matter.
In the end Allt’s motion was defeated 3-2.
