The Greater Victoria Housing Society made an unusual offer to the union representing its workers this summer: It wanted to increase wages by $1.25 an hour. The union, not surprisingly, was delighted.
The extra $1.25 per hour works out to roughly $43 per week for the 30 union members working for the society, Local 1978 president Tom Benjamin said Tuesday, noting a proactive wage increase by an employer is highly unusual. As a non-profit organization, the housing society does not have a lot of reserves, she said, but managed to scrape together the extra $1.25 per hour, which she hopes will help make it a viable employment option.
Inflation has become the major concern during bargaining “because it just keeps going up,” Benjamin said, which means if employees are not getting a wage increase it’s the equivalent of receiving a pay cut.
Sure. Put a budget forward with new revenue sources and then we can talk.