Opinion: Nova Scotia workers get raw deal

Workers are trying to stretch every dollar, but the truth is that in Nova Scotia they’re working longer hours for hundreds of dollars less than they would make in other parts of Canada.

This is money that could be going toward groceries, rent or simply making life a little easier for their families.

Workers are living in a time when the deck just keeps getting stacked against them. Between U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs creating uncertainty for Canadians and the federal Liberals restricting workers’ rights to strike, Nova Scotians need a provincial government willing to firmly stand on the side of working people.

Instead, the Tim Houston government used the recent fall sitting of the legislature to do the bare minimum. After five years of ignoring the issue, the Houston government is finally banning tip theft in April. This is a simple change New Democrats have long pushed for but, under this government, Nova Scotians continue to deal with some of the worst labour standards in Canada.

The Houston government lowered the overtime threshold from 48 hours to 44 hours a week, leaving Nova Scotians behind people in eight other provinces and territories who get overtime  at 40 hours. Workers shouldn’t have to put in more than a standard 40-hour work week, sacrificing valuable time with their loved ones, before their extra time is worth extra pay.

The overtime rule change also did nothing to help the thousands of workers who are subject to exemptions and carve-outs, forcing them to spend more time on the job and less time at home without the compensation they deserve.

For example, many construction workers in Nova Scotia aren’t entitled to overtime until they’ve worked 110 hours over two weeks. That means they need to work an extra 11 to 15 hours a week, compared to their peers in most other provinces, before getting a single dollar of overtime pay.

And workers in industries like oil and gas, IT and shipbuilding can still have their overtime calculated at minimum wage instead of the wage they actually earn. These exemptions don’t exist in most other provinces, which means local workers are logging more hours with less pay.

The problems don’t end with overtime.

Nova Scotia workers still aren’t guaranteed paid sick days, meaning many families have to choose between staying home when they’re sick or losing a day’s worth of pay.

Gig workers like Uber and Lyft drivers are still left without basic protections under the Labour Standards Code, leaving them vulnerable to unfair labour practices.

Workers still don’t have protection against scab labour, undermining their right to strike.

And Nova Scotia remains one of the most difficult provinces for workers to form a union, weakening their ability to fight for better wages and working conditions.

This isn’t right, and Nova Scotians know it. People are working hard, putting in long hours and doing everything they can to get ahead. But when you pair these conditions with the enormous cost of housing, power and other essentials like gas in our province, it’s no wonder so many people feel like they’re falling further behind, and it’s clear that workers are getting a raw deal from this government.

We all believe in a Nova Scotia where everyone prospers. Nova Scotians are doing their part to make this a reality. But, if we want to build a province that can withstand economic pressures, we need to support and protect the people keeping our province running. That means making sure workers can earn a decent living, spend time with their families and build a future here without having to work themselves into the ground just to make ends meet.

To build an elbows-up, resilient economy, it makes sense to put our workers on a level playing field with their peers across Canada. The Houston government had a chance to move toward that goal during the recent sitting of the legislature, but they chose instead to leave Nova Scotians behind other Canadian workers – again.

Working people deserve more than a government that does a sliver of the job needed and calls it a victory. They deserve to know that their hard day’s work means a real opportunity to get ahead.

That’s what New Democrats have been fighting for, and we’ll keep pushing until Nova Scotia workers get the respect and protections they deserve.

Paul Wozney is the official Opposition critic for labour and the MLA for Sackville-Cobequid.