B.C. farm workers get pay raise

Apr 20, 2018

Piece rate employees will get an 11.5 per cent increase next January

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Some members of British Columbia’s agricultural workforce will see a pay increase in January.

Yesterday, provincial Labour Minister Harry Bains announced that the wages for piece rate farm workers will go up by 11.5 per cent per piece rate as of Jan. 1, 2019.

Workers who currently make $18.89 per bin of harvested apples will earn $21.06 when the wage increase takes place, for example. And employees who earn $21.27 per bin of harvested pears will see their wages jump to $23.71 per bin.

The Fair Wages Commission recommended the increase, which represents an effort to ensure all members of B.C.’s workforce can earn a living wage.

“No one working for minimum wage, full-time, year-round should be living in poverty,” Bains said in a statement today. “Workers deserve a minimum level of protection so that, regardless of a person’s job description, they don’t earn a wage that is distinctly less than the general minimum wage.”

The increases were originally planned to come into effect this June but were pushed to January to allow the ag industry to better prepare for the changes

“This is a critical industry for B.C. and we want to make sure any changes made help give it the strong, sustainable future it deserves,” said Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said in a statement today. “We believe everyone who contributes to this industry should have their say as we move toward making wages fair and life more affordable for farm workers.”

Farms.com has reached out to the British Columbia Agriculture Council for comment on the piece rate increases.

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