192 replies to this topic

[spanky123]

Well apparently the government heard the criticism and cancelled the TFW program for the fast food sector.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ttawa-1.2621385

And the Fair Wage folks just came out with a new report stating that the minimum living wage in Victoria is now $19 / hr.

[VicHockeyFan]

You must not be looking in the right places or are a bad employer as everyone knows that there are hundreds of local people vying for every job that comes up!

 

A client owns a small food outlet downtown here, he's been struggling for months to find a cook that can work on his/her own, so he can expand the hours of his business, he's having no luck.

[Mike K.]

It is clear what both of you should do.

[VicHockeyFan]

It is clear what both of you should do.

 

Take cooking lessons?  Or post our ads in the Philippines?

[Mike K.]

Exactly!

[lanforod]

Nah they need to offer at least $19/hr.

[spanky123]

I have yet to see one shred of evidence that foreign fast food workers harm the economy or take jobs away from Canadians. The belief seems to be that without foreign workers employers will simply pay more because they have so much money to share. My experience has been that if employers can't find workers within the wage brackets that they can afford then they simply cut hours or services and do not in fact hire more people at higher wages. I don't see how that helps the economy.

[VicHockeyFan]

I have yet to see one shred of evidence that foreign fast food workers harm the economy or take jobs away from Canadians. The belief seems to be that without foreign workers employers will simply pay more because they have so much money to share. 

 

... or that they will raise prices in order to pay higher wages.  Then good luck being the one Tim Horton's in town that charges 25% more than all the national radio, TV and print ads say your double-double should cost.  That's one of the problems with these franchises, the corporation sets your consumer prices via their heavy advertising, and they set your food costs, because you have to buy from them.  Too narrow a margin between those two and all you can do is try to save on wages, or increase productivity of your workforce.  And I've yet to see one report that suggests that the TFWs are not very, very productive.

[Mike K.]

Why does one brand depend on TFW's and another not? That's the big question here. If Tim Horton's can't manage to hire enough local staff, why can a Starbucks? They're in the same business, they pay their workers the same wages, and neither company pushes tipping, yet Starbucks turns applicants away and Tim Horton's claims they can't find enough local applicants.

 

So do we have certain brands operated by certain franchisees that automatically look offshore or are they legitimately unable to fill those positions?

 

Within a year or so we'll have a very good idea of what the situation was at the Pandora McDonalds. If they're cutting hours and closing early we'll know there's a problem. If they continue running their business as they always have we'll know there wasn't a problem, right?

[VicHockeyFan]

I think you'll find that Starbucks is not in the "value" category for food service pricing.

[goke]

Starbucks hires a lot of foreigners on work permits locally. They are not TFW but on Working Holidays Visas that enable them to work in Canada for a year (or 2 yrs from Australia).

I didn't think Starbucks paid more than minimum? Do they? 

[Mike K.]

^^ they may not be, but the wages are the same.

[jonny]

Valid point Mike, although Starbucks certainly has a more upscale corporate image than Micky D's. That being said, Starbucks manages to staff its local stores without TFWs yet still pays minimum wage.

 

If Canadians and permanent residents don't want to work at McDonald's or Tim Horton's, perhaps those companies should investigate why that is and make their operations more desirable workplaces.

[spanky123]

Valid point Mike, although Starbucks certainly has a more upscale corporate image than Micky D's. That being said, Starbucks manages to staff its local stores without TFWs yet still pays minimum wage.
 
If Canadians and permanent residents don't want to work at McDonald's or Tim Horton's, perhaps those companies should investigate why that is and make their operations more desirable workplaces.

As I have pointed out many times, the number of people working in Victoria has declined over the past 6-7 years. That is largely due to a reduction in the size of the workforce because of an aging of our population. Customer service jobs are hard to fill anywhere in town. Perhaps Starbucks has more of a trendy cache and students prefer to work there but that is not a reflection of industry supply as a whole. If Goke is correct then Starbucks is using foreign workers they are just doing it under a different program.

Edited by spanky123, 30 April 2014 - 03:35 PM.

[spanky123]

According to this Financial Post article from last year, Starbucks does in fact use the TFW program in Canada.

 

http://business.fina...kers-in-canada/

[LJ]

And the Fair Wage folks just came out with a new report stating that the minimum living wage in Victoria is now $19 / hr.

And Vancouver is over $21/hr.

[LJ]

... or that they will raise prices in order to pay higher wages.  

Then the workers will want higher wages so that they can afford the goods being offered.

 

Where do you stop? 

[concorde]

The fact is good hard working money making employees are always working, even in a recession

[Mike K.]

I wonder if the issues with young workers have more to do with the general increase in the cost of living and the tendency to forego minimum wage employment for more time to engage in school and extracurricular activities? Honestly, if you have to work 40 hours just to earn $450 (after taxes, EI, CPP, etc.) which can barely buy you a pair of jeans, a tank of gas, and a night on the town, what's the point of working part time for so little pay if your family can help support you before you graduate?

 

From my observations I'm seeing a lot of young people living off an allowance, even university-aged kids are living off an allowance care of mom and dad -- I'm talking early-to-mid 20-somethings. Back when I was in university this was not nearly as common as it is now.

 

I mean we're a university town with a combined total of 25,000 full time students studying at UVic/Camosun and there are positions going unfilled? There's a great deal more to the employment situation than simply saying "kids are not dependable these days."

[VicHockeyFan]

Here's a map tracking at least some western-provinces TFW employers:

 

http://ntfw.ca/map-c...oreign-workers/