Who I am thinking about this Labour Day
I am sitting here on Labour Day 2020 thinking about how despite just losing my most recent contract due to Covid-related budget cuts, I am grateful that I am still employed, that I still have a salary, and that I have new opportunities coming up the pipe. I am very lucky to be in one of the industries that was least affected by the pandemic. This feeling of personal contentment has me thinking about those who aren't as fortunate as me, however.
Today, I am thinking about many of my friends, some of whom are just entering their 30s or even 40s, and most of which whom hold at least some post-secondary, yet cannot afford to own their own homes, despite my parent's ability to build and own their own home in the late 80s, and that's without post-secondary educations of their own.
Today, I am thinking about not just those friends, but any hard-working Reginan wishing to own their own home in a time when the average bungalow costs $289,307, yet two adults working full-time, minimum wage jobs will bring in $47,091 before taxes. That is a house-price-to-household-income ratio of 6.1. In 1990, a couple earning minimum wage would earn $20,800 then, while the average home in Regina, of all sizes, sold for $71,415. That is a ratio of 3.4. If this comparison was done for Vancouver or Toronto, it would be even more dire.
Today, I am thinking about all the people earning a less-than-livable wage who are told to just keep working hard and to get an education, despite a) that we will always need folks working these kinds of jobs, b) there aren't enough good-paying jobs available if everyone wanted one, and c) people are being priced right out of post-secondary education, the cost of which has risen just as fast as house prices have.
Today, I am thinking of the teachers who even before Covid were struggling to ensure their growing classes got the attention they need to become contributing members of society but now are also tasked with operating in an unknown, dangerous and precarious environment, all so students' parents can go back to work to try and keep this consumerist economy going.
Today, I am thinking of Samwel Uko, a young black man who tragically died after attempting to seek help multiple times for the mental health issues he was experiencing, while the best we can do as a society is share a corporate hashtag that likely does more harm than good.
Today, I am thinking of Tristen Durocher and his camp at Wascana Park that he set up to protest the countless Indigenous suicides that the Sask Party has failed to address with any meaningful action, at a time when we know that mental illness, suicide and drug addiction will only get worse because of the pandemic.
Today, I am thinking of the small businesses and their workers who are being hit hard by this pandemic, many of whom who won't have a business to go back to, while Jeff Bezos' unethical amount of wealth hits $200 billion thanks to unaffected white-collar workers sending their money to Amazon instead of their own communities.
Today, I am thinking about those small business owners and the myriad businesses that will close because of this pandemic, while large corporations, which can more-easily weather the storm, fix their eyes on their remains, allowing them to grow into even larger, vertically integrated monopolies, further contributing to socioeconomic inequality.
Today, I am thinking of my father, whom I got my work ethic from, but whom will not be rewarded for that work ethic as the neoliberalists promised, and will be working until he dies thanks to the corportization of the meat cutting industry and the subsequent death of the local butcher.
This is only a small portion of the suffering that I am thinking about today. Instead of wallowing in it though, I am going to use the sadness I feel for these people and the anger against the oppressive systems that enable the suffering as motivation to continue fighting for my fellow Canadian worker and for those without a voice to do so.
So, who are you thinking about today?