(The following article is from the March 1-15, 2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

The "Official Restaurant" of the Olympics pays new employees less than BC's minimum wage, which is already the lowest in Canada.

     "As part of our Olympic sponsorship we honour the hard work and exceptional performance of our restaurant crew...." according to McDonald's Senior Vice-President of Global Marketing, Dean Barrett.

     "I talked to several McDonald's workers in the past few days who are making less than $7 an hour and they are not impressed with the company," says B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair. "These workers deserve a fair wage and respect. That's the real Olympic spirit."

     British Columbia has the lowest minimum wage in Canada at $8 an hour. It has been frozen for eight years. However, McDonald's in the Lower Mainland use the so-called training wage to lower starting salaries to as little as $6.35 an hour. The Liberal government introduced the training wage by lowering the minimum wage by 25 percent for new workers and immigrants.

     "For those watching the McDonald's commercials celebrating the spirit and values of the Olympics, it might come as a surprise that one of the largest global restaurant chains pays new employees the lowest wages in Canada," Sinclair said, calling on the company to eliminate the training wage and pay all starting employees a minimum of $10 an hour.

     "This company can find hundreds of millions of dollars to sponsor and promote the Olympics but they pay less than the lowest minimum wage in Canada to new workers," Sinclair said.