Dear friends

Marlene Rivier wrote:

> I for one am not impressed by Premier McGuinty's attempt to get out in 
> front on this issue which is really resonating with the public.  The 
> $10 minimum wage campaign is a result of NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo's 
> private members bill which calls for a $10 minimum wage NOW.  Anything 
> less means that despite working full time the worker's income remains 
> below the poverty line!  Getting a job is suppose to get you out of 
> poverty in this country!
>  
> Premier McGuinty took only 8 days before Christmas to give himself 
> a raise of $40,000.  How can he ask the poorest workers in the 
> province to wait until  2010 to reach $10 an hour and where will the 
> poverty line be then?  It will take those workers 2 1/2 years to earn 
> the equivalent of his raise.  Shame on him!
> Marlene Rivier

Nor I !

Of course - to get, even, the Minimum Wage you need a job (that need 
word again!) - but the system is rigged so that a proportion of the 
'employable' work-force are kept in a state of unemployment.

This is the little-discussed concept of NAIRU (or NIARU):

    ------------------------------------------------

 From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAIRU

"The term *NAIRU* is an acronym <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym> 
for *N*on-*A*ccelerating *I*nflation 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation> *R*ate of *U*nemployment 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment>. It is a concept in economic 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics> theory significant in the 
interplay of macroeconomics 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroeconomics> and microeconomics 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microeconomics>. This "full employment 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_employment>" unemployment rate is 
sometimes termed the "natural rate of unemployment" or the 
"inflation-threshold unemployment rate": if actual unemployment falls 
below the NAIRU, the inflation rate is likely to rise quickly 
(accelerate). In terms of output, the NAIRU corresponds to potential 
output <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_output>, the highest 
level of real gross domestic product 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product> that can be 
sustained at any one time. This is also called the "natural gross 
domestic product 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gross_domestic_product>."

There are some literature and web references to an equivalent term and 
acronym "non-inflation-accelerating rate of unemployment" - *NIARU*."

    ----------------------------------------------

More-over, the system is also rigged so that 'Unemployment' 'Benefit' is 
now essentially un-obtainable - the ''Hours eligibility rule'.

Accordingly, unemployed people (those without income from unearned 
sources - rent, interest, dividends) are forced (literally immiserated) 
to use their 'credit' cards - 'usury handcuffs' - as personalized forms 
of (anti-)social security. Grrr!

Hence the title-line questions.

Love 2(u) all

john

BTW - the Number one request from respondents of the recent National 
Council on Welfare Report was a Guaranteed Living Income for all  (And I 
thought that it was only me!) - I'll forward a recent posting with 
links, on that.

xo

j

***********



>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Jennifer Chivers <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>     *To:* [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>     *Sent:* Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:26 PM
>     *Subject:* [SDOH] Minimum Wage increase in Ontario, Canada
>
>     This is a public congratulations to Dennis for continuning to
>     pursue issues around poverty.  The Ontario Liberal government just
>     released their budget and in it is a provision to raise the
>     minimum wage in Ontario to $10.25, phased in over the next three
>     years and a new child benefit for low-income parents -- sounds
>     hopeful at the very least.
>
>     Jennifer Chivers
>
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