IATSE_1stQrtr_2018_web

IATSE & LABOR MOVEMENT NEWS
Tim Hortons Owners Offer
Employees Doughnut Holes
After Minimum Wage Increase
The province of Ontario raised its minimum wage to $14 on January 1st, with an increase to $15 to follow
in January of 2019. From some businesses, particularly fast food franchises, the reaction was immediate.
It started in Cobourg, Ontario, with franchise owners Ron Joyce Jr. and Jeri-Lynn Horton-Joyce. They
are a married couple and the son and daughter of the chain’s co-founders, Ron Joyce and the late Tim Horton.
WWW.IATSE.NET
The couple, who own multiple Tim
Hortons franchises, told employees that
they needed to sign a document acknowledging
they are losing paid breaks, paid
benefits, and other incentives as a result
of the province’s minimum wage hike.
Besides losing paid breaks, the document
states that workers with more than five
years of service will have to pay 50% of
the cost of benefits, and employees with
between six months and five years’ service
will have to pay 75%. Prior to this,
employee benefits were covered 100% by
the company.
Other Tim Hortons franchisees began
to follow suit, stating that, as franchisees,
they were unable to raise prices to compensate
for the wage hike. It seemed like
retribution, but even more so once some
franchisees told employees that the optional
tip jar on the counter would be removed.
Although many businesses have
instituted negative measures, such as restaurants
increasing the wait staff “tip out”
percentage to other employees (thereby
negating their wage increase) Tim Hortons
became the face of the bad employer.
Unions knew that that our unrepresented
brothers and sisters needed our
help, and have been fighting for these
workers since the stories hit the press.
Rather than urging a boycott of Tim Hortons,
which would only result in many
of these minimum wage workers losing
their jobs, the labour movement organized
rallies and other actions, in which
the IATSE has been a proud participant.
We also took part in a letter writing campaign
to the Tim Hortons CEO.
Rallies were first organized across
the Toronto area, and these expanded
across the province. The rallies took
place outside of Tim Hortons franchises
and let workers know that they had support.
Attendees carried signs with captions
such as “Pour us a Cup of Fairness!”
On January 19, a National Day of Action
was held, featuring 50 rallies in cities
across Canada. On February 13, union
members hand delivered the Valentine’s
Day love to Tim Hortons workers, with
pre-printed cards from the Ontario Federation
of Labour. The cards contained
messages of support and information on
new provincial legislation surrounding
wages, scheduling, and the right to organize
and were given to Tims employees at
over 200 locations.
We’ll keep up the fight and keep applying
the pressure. Fighting for workers’
rights, whether they’re union or not, is an
important part of making a better society
for everyone. It isn’t always easy, but it’s
the right thing to do.
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