POVERTY IEND
LEGISLATED I
N E W S L E T T E R
#54
Minimum wage should be $9.05 an hour
In 1975 the minimum wage was above the poverty line. It was 22 percent over the poverty line for a single person. For the minimum wage to be 22 per cent over the poverty line now, it would have to be $9.05 an hour. But it is only $5.50 now. Moe Sihota is the Minister in charge of the minimum wage. He told ELP that he wanted to raise the minimum wage to 125% of the poverty line within four years. But will he do it? We need a big @increase NOW. ELP wrote to Sihota on May 14th. We asked him to announce an increase in the minimum wage now. Sihota wrote back. This is what he said: " ...the government (will) be consulting with various interested groups in the community on proposals for a further increase to the rate. I anticipate that this process will be undertaken by the Employment Standards Branch during the" summer. When this is completed, the government will make a decision on the amount and timing of a further increase. " You can write to Sihota and help ELP put on the pressure for a better minimum wage. His address is Ministry of Labour and Consumer Services, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC, V8V 1x4.
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BRIEFCASE
New poverty lines are out
The National Council of Welfare has come out with the new poverty lines for 1992. They call them the "low income cutoff" lines. In a city like Vancouver the overty line for a single person is 15,426 a year. If there are two people in the family, the poverty line is $20,910. For a family of three people it is $26,579. For four people, it is $30,548.
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How does the poverty line compare with welfare? A single so-called "employable" person on welfare gets $6300 a year. This person is $9126 a year below the poverty line.
A single parent with two children gets $13,572 per year on welfare. This is $13,007 below the poverty line. -EnuQl
Pay fw
work of equal
And j u t what prin~iplcsarc Ulosc ?
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Wdl ... c h ~ p labour
for one.
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Lost your ID and need to cash your cheque?
Here's a tip from Jenny Kwan. Jenny is an advocate at the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association. If you lost your ID and need to cash a cheque, you can: 1. Get a picture taken of yourself at a photobooth. Woodwards on Hastings has one in the basement. It costs $3 for 4 photos. If you have a friend who needs a photo, you could split the cost.
For quick information on your rights as a tenant, call the Tenants Rights Action Coalition Hotline at 255-0546.
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2. Go to Legal Aid at 191
Alexander St. and ask for a "statutory declaration." This is a legal statement that says you are you.
If you have a complicated problem and it may be better to talk to someone in person, the Tenants Rights Action Coalition has a tenant legal clinic every Thursday evening at @ n n i a Community Centre.
3. Attach your picture to the
statutory declaration.
Tenant Legal Clinic
Britannia Community Centre 1661 Napier Street, Vancouver, BC Thursdays 6 - 9 P M
4. TD bank accepts this as ID and so does the Bank of Commerce.
This is cheaper than going to Money Mart. Welfare should also help you get BC ID. BC ID is permanent. Ask your worker to help you get it.
Survival Guide
For a more complete explanation of your rights as a tenant, the Tenants Rights Action Coalition publishes the Tenant Survival Guide. Call us for a copy.
Ministry takes three year limit off education
Single parents on welfare and people with disabilities may be able to go to university. The Ministry of Social Services has changed a rule that allowed people only three years of training. Now, single parents and people with disabilities who are on GAIN can talk to their worker about a training plan. If that plan leads to a job, it could mean that the person could go to university. Welfare wouId pay the regular rate plus books, tuition, and childcare. In the past university was ruled out by the Ministry because it took longer than 3 years to complete. The move is a step in the right direction but not enough. Sherrill Gullickson of 100 Mile House is on welfare and wants to become a lawyer. Sherill is married and has three kids. She has also raised foster 71 kids. But, because Sherill is not a single parent or disabled, the Ministry will not pay the $228.98 that she needs to take the LSAT test to get into UBC law school. "I could get off welfare for the price of an admissions test," says Sherill. But Ministry rules still are not broad enough to help this wom get an education.
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If you are a single parent or a person with disabilities you can talk to your worker about a training plan.
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Law students will hold summer legal clinics
The Law Students Legal Advice Program is holding legal clinics in the summer. They have clinics in many Vancouver neighbourhoods as well as Burnaby, Coquitlam, Langley, New Westminster, Richmond, the North Shore, Surrey, and White Rock. They also have special clinics for People with Aids, women, and people who speak Cantonese and Mandarin. There is a special drop in clinic at the Carnegie Centre and Main and Hastings. This clinic is on Wednesday and Thursday between 10 am and 4pm. You have to have appointments for the other clinics. To find out which clinic is best for you, and to make an appointment, call 8225791. The law students can take on problems like these: *wills and estates; *divorces ($20 charge for paperwork); *landlord and tenant (the students will handle arbitratiens); * *any criminal charges that Legal Aid won't help with. (Go to Legal Aid first to see if they can help); *problems with your boss; *problems collecting debts; *unemployment insurance, welfare, WCB, and OAP problems.
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B. C. Hydro unfair
By Irene Schmidt
I notice the new NDP government made a clean sweep ofthe bureaucrats at ICBC. A great number of low income people wish they would do the same at BC Hydro. This monopoIy desperately needs competition as they keep on calling the shots and receive rate increases without really justifying them. As we well know rents in Vancouver are excessively high without the added burden of a hydro bill with extra costs of a regional transit levy and the dreaded GST. If you happen to be a little late in paying there is also a late payment charge consisting of 1.5 percent of the total bill.
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Please let us know about your unjust experiences concerning B . C. Hydro and we could launch a petition to present to the government. Enough is enough.
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To top everything off low income people are harrassed with letters like Final Payment Notices. This latest one was sent to me exactly a week after I received the bill. The provinCia1 and federal governments work hand in hand taxin...