Minimum wage workers in Ontario will be earning 31.5 per cent more by 2019 for doing the same jobs they are today. Not surprisingly, many business owners are concerned about the implications this massive increase in their costs will have on their business.

The public needs to stand up and declare with one voice that they will no longer permit these affronts to justice to go on. Ontarians need to demand that their government reinstate the Provincial Employee Wage Protection Program immediately.

Millions of workers across Ontario lack access to paid sick days and job protection. For many, taking a sick day is simply not an option. This gap in access to an important protection disproportionately affects people in low-wage jobs and precarious work, a sure signal about the unfairness of employment standards.