The Read Feed is a recurring feature in the Food First NL monthly newsletter. It provides a brief summary of the latest news articles and musings on topics related to food insecurity and the right to food in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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This content first appeared in the May 2023 newsletter.
There's a real focus on labour right now, with labour organizing in the news and the celebration of International Labour Day on May 1st, including a large May Day rally in St. John’s. So this month we're focusing on food insecurity and decent work.
In 2021, almost half of all households that experienced food insecurity in Newfoundland and Labrador relied on wages, salaries, or self-employment incomes as their main source of income. Notably, this data is from before 2022 and 2023's rapid rates of inflation and is likely higher now. Given this, it's unsurprising that one of the key ways to address household food insecurity is by increasing the minimum wage.
Our current minimum wage ($14.50 per hour) is well below a living wage ($18.85 per hour) which was last calculated in 2019 and is likely higher now. The minimum wage is simply not keeping up with inflation, which is having a huge impact on workers in N.L., who can’t live on the wages that they earn and many of whom are precariously employed.
Fair pay is only one piece of the broader “decent work” picture. “Decent Work is employment which is free of harassment, abuse, discrimination, precarity, and other unjust labour conditions which deny the dignity, rights, and economic well-being of workers” (Workers’ Action Network N.L.). FoodShare talks about these overarching aspects in their recent Instagram post: anti-racism, living wages, paid sick days, equal pay for equal work, laws that protect workers, unionization, and status for all. You can also check out their posts on common myths about decent work, and who’s most impacted by unjust working conditions (spoiler: it’s folks who are already marginalized by systems of oppression)
Governments have an important role to play in creating public policy and legislation for decent work. They’re responsible for employment standards (e.g. minimum wage, protected paid leave), occupational health and safety standards, immigration laws, and employment equity laws, amongst others. Government action is critical for creating and enforcing decent labour conditions.
Some additional resources about worker advocacy and decent work in the province:
The Workers’ Action Network N.L. is a great resource on workers’ rights. They also have 12 calls to action for the provincial government to advance decent work.
The N.L. Federation of Labour is a go-to resource for unionized workers in the province and represents more than 70,000 workers.
The Migrant Action Centre focuses on labour justice for migrant workers — keep an eye out for their upcoming N.L. Migrant Justice Week.
Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador's history of the labour movement in N.L.
