you can tell who's out in the workforce by who's posted in this thread.
we do have low wages. they've been pretty stagnant despite the increasing cost of living but we got through the recession better than most.
on one hand, i feel sorry for the workforce in vancouver/canada but then i remember how much worse it is elsewhere and then i'm thankful for being able to live here. we're lucky that unions exist here. the overall workforce (union and non-union) is much better off with them. seeing places where people are too fearful of losing their jobs if they unionize that they tolerate abomidable treatment from employers changed me from anti-union to pro.