Niagara Community Legal Clinic is Niagara’s Latest Certified Living Wage Employer
The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network is pleased to announce that Niagara Community Legal Clinic has become a certified living wage employer at the Champion level.
Niagara Community Legal Clinic is a not-for-profit agency funded by Legal Aid Ontario, with a mission of providing access to the justice system for low-income people in Niagara. The agency is a merger of Justice Niagara (the legal clinic based in Welland) and Niagara North Community Legal Assistance (the clinic in St. Catharines), which merged on January 1, 2019They currently employ 17 full time staff, one part time staff and 20 contract staff.
“As a social justice organization, Niagara Community Legal Clinic recognizes the importance of ensuring that all workers for whom we are responsible are paid a living wage. We must address poverty collectively, using every tool at our disposal,” says Aidan Johnson, Executive Director of Niagara Community Legal Clinic.
“We are very pleased to see so many local employers who recognize the value and benefits of paying at least a living wage. Paying a living wage takes direct action to tackle poverty and to help people afford their cost of living expenses,” says Jennifer Gauthier, Vice-Chair of the Niagara Poverty Reduction Network.
A living wage reflects what earners need to be paid based on the actual costs of living and being included in the community. A living wage is not the same as the legislated minimum wage. It is a voluntary commitment that employers can make to compensate directly-employed and contract-employed full-time and part-time workers. The 2019 living wage for Niagara region has been calculated to be $18.12/hour. If an employer’s total compensation package includes benefits such as dental and prescription drugs, the living wage can be lowered by at least $1.00/hour.
Learn more about Niagara’s living wage at www.wipeoutpoverty.ca. Niagara-area employers interested in becoming living wage certified can contact the Ontario Living Wage Network for more information at www.ontariolivingwage.ca
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The Niagara Poverty Reduction Network is a collective of over 30 agencies and individuals working to wipe out poverty in Niagara through education, collaboration, and advocacy to address poverty’s root causes.
