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Expert: Labour groups protest Tim Hortons’ response to Ontario minimum wage

Published: 10 January 2018

Labour organizations across Ontario are holding rallies today to protest the actions some Tim Hortons franchises have taken in response to an increase in the province's minimum wage. (The Globe and Mail)

 

Barry Eidlin, Professor of Sociology at McGill University

“The move by some Tim Horton’s franchisees to claw back worker benefits while blaming it on the recent minimum wage hike seems timed to score political points more than to respond to any actual economic considerations. More broadly, it highlights two key problems with work in Canada today. First, the fact that too many workers’ day-to-day lives remain subject to the unilateral, arbitrary whims of their employers. Second, the way that the franchise business model creates incentives for small business owners to cut corners, while allowing large corporations—the franchisors—to evade responsibility for the conditions they create.”—Barry Eidlin

Professor Eidlin is a comparative historical sociologist interested in the study of class, politics, inequality, and social change. More specifically, his research explores the changing relationship between social mobilization, political processes, and ideology in advanced capitalist democracies.

(514) 398-6852, barry.eidlin [at] mcgill.ca, (English, French)

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