[LINK] "Ontario's 'eye-popping' shift to low-wage work"

[rfmcdonald]

Sara Mojtehedzadeh's Toronto Star article was widely shared on Facebook. What else is there to say about this situation of worsening inequality?

Welcome to the new normal for families across the province: low salaries, erratic schedules, dwindling hours, unpaid leave and constant stress.

Ontario’s low-wage work force has skyrocketed by 94 percent over the past two decades, compared with just 30 percent growth in total employment, according to a new report.

In one of the few province-wide studies of precarious employment, the research details an “eye-popping” shift toward poorly paid, non-unionized work across Ontario.

It shows that 40 percent of low-wage employees are saddled with unpredictable shifts, and the overwhelming majority do not get paid when they need time off.

That reality, the report argues, calls for sweeping changes to the province’s employment and labour laws, whose many loopholes have been detailed by the Star and are currently the subject of government review.