Commentary
Vancouver School Board (VSB) trustees plan to correct an error they made back in 2022. Come this summer, the VSB will stop being a “living wage” employer.
This means the VSB will no longer top up the salaries of contract employees such as bus drivers to meet a target set by the activist group Living Wage BC. As a result, bus driver salaries will decrease from approximately $28 per hour to $23.40. Other contract employees such as attendants, cafeteria workers and casual labourers will see a similar decrease in their hourly pay.
At first glance, this move seems heartless. But in this case, VSB trustees did the right thing. The so-called “living wage” is a political gimmick that pressures employers to pay above-market wages….