Monday, March 6, 2023

Inflation! What Does It Mean for You?

Many Local 306 members are struggling to pay the bills right now, in part because the cost of living has been going up for the past year or so, and in part because the jobs many of you do are not paying enough to keep up with that increase in costs

Newsletters Manitoba Local 306

By Geoff Dueck Thiessen, Regional Director, Winnipeg Member Centre

To stay afloat, many of you have had to work more than one job, give up things that are important to you (like travelling to see family overseas), or take on more debt.

The cost of living is often referred to as CPI (consumer price index) or COLA (cost of living allowance). In December 2022, Statistics Canada measured Manitoba’s CPI as 7.9 percent averaged over the last 12 months. So that means that if you take the CPI of each month (how much more expensive each month in 2022 was compared to the same month in 2021) over the past year, add them up and divide by 12, it’s been on average 7.9 percent more expensive to live.

High CPI doesn’t impact everyone the same. A couple without children or elderly parents to support will struggle less than a single parent. And if you don’t have to buy a car, or take out a loan during a time when prices are high and interests rates on loans are also high, you’re going to feel the pinch less.

Ideally, employee wages rise in a way that keeps up when the cost of being a consumer grows, or inflates. That doesn’t always work, in part because not every industry can afford to keep up with costs by paying their employees more.

Some industries can raise wages high enough because they can pass those costs on to whoever is buying their services, or they can cut into profits and still keep the doors open. Other industries struggle because raising wages might mean they can’t be competitive.

I know one person who was working for a company making high-end sound equipment. Early in the pandemic, when many people had more income and more time, people were buying high-end sound equipment.

But when inflation started to rise, people had less extra money, and high-end sound equipment was no longer as desirable. So simply raising the price of that equipment to help pay for higher wages didn’t seem like a good option. Instead, layoffs happened.

Most Local 306 members have collective agreements that are in negotiations for renewal right now. We want you to know that we are thinking very much about you and the financial realities you face when we go to the negotiating table with your employer.

Inflation is a complicated issue, and so are the solutions to it. What’s not complicated is that you need to be able to afford to live, and we’re working hard to get the best settlement we can for you during difficult times.

If your collective agreement is being negotiated, make sure you are getting the latest updates by logging in at myCLAC.ca and keeping your current email address and other contact information up to date. You can manage what kind of communication you receive from CLAC as well.

If you have questions or concerns about upcoming negotiations, be sure to talk to your steward or representative.

Inflation! What Does It Mean for You?

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