The Fairness Express bus made a stop in Yorkton Thursday.
The bus tour is sponsored by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), and "was launched in September of last year as a means of connecting with people across the country, where they live and work, to find out how they are coping with the economy of the post-2008 recession," detailed a release circulated to media.
"From its beginnings in Atlantic Canada, through to Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, the Fairness Express bus traveled more than 22,000 kms before reaching Saskatchewan.
Mary Ann Harrison, a Saskatchewan Union of Government Employees member who represents her union with NUPGE, explained, the core message of the tour stems from the NUPGE All Together Now! campaign promoting tax fairness, public services, good jobs and labour rights.
Harrison said the key is to bring awareness of the inequality of the tax system one where the very rich pay far less in proportion to the average wage earner.
The tour is also raising the message that wages at the bottom end of the scale are too low, said Harrison. She said minimum wage climbing to $10.20 is still far short of a being a living wage as rents rise, property taxes climb, and utility bills go up.
"Corporations need to start raising the wages to give people a living wage," she said.
"People just can't make it wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation."
When the tour kicked off in Saskatchewan on Sep.15th of this year, engagers from the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union (SGEU) travelled with the bus to several cities and towns around the province, including: Humboldt, Weyburn, Estevan, Assiniboia, Swift Current, Maple Creek, Lumsden, Moose Jaw, Lloydminster, North Battleford, Meadow Lake, Martensville, La Ronge, Nipawin, Tisdale, Hudson Bay, Prince Albert, Wynyard, Watrous and Saskatoon.
