Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women

Raising the Minimum Wage in Newfoundland & Labrador

NL Women’s Wages 2003:

27.1% earned less than $8 an hour
37.6% earned less than $10 an hour
30% of single parent families earned $8 an hour or less
37.4% of single parent families $10 an hour or less

Women make up two-thirds of minimum wage earners and the majority of low-wage workers in our province. In order to make sure women can take care of themselves and their families, wages need to be raised.

Simply put, we need to make work pay.

That’s the slogan of the Make Work Pay Coalition. Thanks to their strong lobby effort, the provincial government has committed to raising the minimum wage until it reaches $10 per hour by 2010, or "ten by ten," as the saying goes. See the government's schedule of increases.

The Make Work Pay Coalition includes the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, unions, student groups, women’s organizations, faith-based organizations, anti-poverty groups and community activists. Visit their website for more startling statistics and important information: www.makeworkpay.ca

The Advisory Council is active in this lobby and included a call for a $10 minimum wage in our 2007 Pre-Budget Consultation Brief found on our Resources page.

We are united in our efforts to increase the minimum wage to a Living Wage.