Ontario Labour
Reforms Well Received
Toronto, June 19th
– In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among
1003 Ontario voters, three-quarters (74%) say that they approve of the
provincial government increasing the minimum vacation from two weeks to three
weeks for employees that have been with a company for at least five years. Only
(18%) disapprove, with (8%) saying they do not know.
Respondents most
likely to say they approve of the increase to vacation time include anyone
under the age of 65: 34 or younger (75%), 35-44 (76%), 45-54 (75%), 55-64 (74%),
earning $40,000-$60,000 (78%), living in Toronto (81%), with a post-graduate
degree (79%), and supporting the Liberals (90%).
Respondents most
likely to say they do not approve of the increase to vacation time includes
those 65+ (25%), earning $60,000-$80,000 (24%) or $80,000-$100,000 (25%), males
(25%), living in Southwestern Ontario (25%), and supporting the PCs (30%).
Same job/same pay
More
than two-thirds (67%) say that they approve of the provincial government’s
decision to mandate that employees doing the same job must be paid the same,
regardless of their employment status. A quarter (24%) say that they
disapprove, with fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) saying they don’t know.
Respondents
most likely to say they approve of the same pay for the same job include those
65+ (80%), females (72%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (76%) or $40,000-$60,000
(75%), living in the 905 (72%), with a post-graduate degree (75%), and
supporting the NDP (84%).
Respondents
most likely to say that they disapprove of the same pay for the same job
include those aged 34 and younger (29%) or 35-44 (29%), males (28%), earning
$60,000-$80,000 (30%), $80,000-$100,000 (28%), or the most wealthy (28%),
living in Southwestern Ontario (29%), with some college/university (25%) or a
post-graduate degree (27%), and supporting the Progressive Conservatives (37%).
Majority approve of offering pay to
shift workers cancelled with short notice
More
than half (57%) say that they approve of the government introducing rules that
say employers that cancel an employee’s shift with less than 48 hours-notice
must compensate their employee with three hours pay. More than a quarter (27%)
say that they disapprove of the decision, with (16%) saying they do not know,
the highest proportion of do not knows recorded on these four reforms.
Respondents
most likely to approve of the decision include those aged 34 or younger (61%)
or 35-44 (58%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (69%), living in Toronto (65%), with a
post-graduate degree (64%), and supporting the NDP (72%).
Respondents
most likely to disapprove include those earning $80,000-$100,000 (39%), living
in Southwestern Ontario (37%), with a college/university degree (30%), and
supporting the Progressive Conservatives (37%).
More than half approve of minimum wage
increase
The
majority of respondents (53%) say they approve of increasing the minimum wage
to $15.00 per hour. Almost 4 in 10 (38%) disapprove, the highest proportion of
disapproval amongst the four government labour reforms surveyed. Fewer than 1
in 10 say they do not know (9%).
Respondents
most likely to say they approve of the minimum wage increase include those aged
35-44 (56%), 55-64 (56%), or 65+ (59%), females (59%), earning $20,000-$40,000
(66%), living in Toronto (63%), with a post-graduate degree (65%), and
supporting the Liberals (79%).
Respondents
most likely to say they disapprove of the minimum wage increase include those
aged 34 and younger (40%), 45-54 (41%), or 55-64 (38%), males (45%), earning
$60,000-$80,000 (47%) or $80,000-$100,000 (49%), living in Southwestern Ontario
(47%), the least educated (40%) or with some college/university (42%), and
supporting the Progressive Conservatives (62%).
“In
most cases a considerable majority of voters support the Ontario Government’s
recently introduced labour reforms,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of
Forum Research. “The government receives a wide measure of support on their
reforms both from their own supporters and from the supporters of the NDP.”
Lorne
Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be
reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
