-by Hub Staff

"The United Way is looking for an office cleaner. Weekly Monday evenings, 6 hours, $13 an hour. The United Way supplies all the tools and cleaners. There are stairs and you must be able to lift 50 lbs.
To apply please bring your resume directly to the United Way with references.
380 9th Street East Owen Sound"
Within minutes of this post Monday, January 25 on the Facebook page of United Way of Bruce Grey, The Hub received a note to the Editor – in part -

"The United Way has publicly promoted the idea of the living wage. In Owen Sound the living wage has been set at $14.77. Much higher than the rate of pay offered by the local United Way office.

"To me this speaks to a common problem when dealing with a living wage. Justifications for paying employees less than a living wage are made by many employers. When this problem reaches organizations like the United Way we have to determine why and how."
The writer provided a link to Living Wage Canada – which references the Final Report of the Precarious Work Group in Grey-Bruce – which in turn references a United Way Bruce Grey Living Wage Report  (no longer online) which included the $14.77  living wage calculation for the city of Owen Sound.
Francesca Dobbyn, Executive Director of the local United Way, was clearly caught on a familiar hook for charitable enterprises - pointing out the realities of precarious work in the community while controlling overhead within the organization. 

There was clearly a reconsideration within the organization after the conversation became public - the same afternoon the ad was reposted with a new rate of pay - $15 per hour.