COVID-19 has redefined 'essential services' in Saskatchewan. It's time for paycheques to follow suit

This Opinion piece was written by Fife Ogunde, a research specialist and societal affairs commentator based in Saskatchewan.

For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised interesting questions about what kind of workers are "essential" and how much they deserved to be paid as a result.

I was having a discussion with a couple of people regarding the pandemic (surprise surprise) and the discussion somewhat shifted to the subject of essential workers. We began speaking about how many of us have not visited the doctor in probably a year, but go to the grocery store virtually every week. 

In some sense, the cashier at Walmart is far more essential to our way of life than some of the professionals who have been deemed essential. The vaccine distribution plan seems to indicate that the relevant decision-makers see things differently.

There is virtually no member of society who has not been impacted by the pandemic. 

Various groups have lobbied to be granted priority vaccine status based on their own conception of their value and importance. Each group arguably has a case and figuring out whose is strongest is by no means an easy task. 

Our health-care workers are doing a fantastic job coping with the number of hospitalizations and patients associated with the pandemic. However, so are other individuals who are not getting the same recognition. 

Grocery store staff, delivery drivers and other workers we may consider less essential have gone to extraordinary lengths to maintain our way of life This must be recognized not by performative gestures and awards, but in monetary terms attached to the services they provide.

Many of the men and women essential to our way of life do not see their value reflected in their paycheques.- Fife Ogunde

Minimum wage in Saskatchewan is $11.45 an hour. According to 2020 wage data from Statistics Canada, "sales support" workers such as cashiers in Saskatchewan earn an average of $15.26 per hour. That's compared to $39.59 for "occupations in education services" like teachers and university professors, and $44.09 for "front-line public protection services" like police and firefighters. 

Many of the highest-paying jobs in Saskatchewan are in the business, medical and technical sectors. The justification for the high pay in these sectors often centres around factors like knowledge, long learning paths and the critical nature of the work undertaken. These are all valid factors, but the pandemic has shown that other things need to be considered. 

What is the life-saving or life-preserving value of a given profession? What contribution does this job make to the maintenance of societal structures? How often does this job contribute to the maintenance of societal dynamics? 

These sociological questions are by no means easy to answer. So many professions have in them intangible value that would likely not be considered in making monetary decisions. Nevertheless, the answers to these questions could be useful in creating more inclusive definitions of "essential" and "valuable."

Much has been said about the revolutionary effect the pandemic could have on the future of work. As we contemplate the tantalizing prospects of futuristic technology, remote working and a 'world without borders,' we must not miss one of the most basic lessons of COVID-19: many of the men and women essential to our way of life do not see their value reflected in their paycheques.

Now to the elephant in the room. How can we change this?

The most obvious answer is that people who work in the industries that COVID-19 has deemed essential should be paid better than they are now. But no one is just going to wake up tomorrow and give a Walmart cashier a bigger paycheque just because I said so. 

Why not introduce legislation making wages sector-dependent as opposed to being uniform? The more essential your sector is deemed to be (backed by research of course), the higher the minimum wage/basic salary. 

Alternatively, the increase could come in the form of benefits such as subsidized child-care costs or tax-free income for overtime work. 

Any of these options come with their own costs. Some may even argue that a sector-dependent minimum wage calculation could lead to massive job cuts to save money, especially in sectors that have an unhealthy obsession with profit margins. 

We may not have all the answers, but the point still stands. We need to consider how we can better compensate the people that COVID-19 has shown to be truly essential.

Interested in writing for us? We accept pitches for Opinion and First Person pieces from Saskatchewan residents who want to share their thoughts on the news of the day, issues affecting their community or who have a compelling personal story to share. No need to be a professional writer!

Read more about what we're looking for here, then email sask-opinion-grp@cbc.ca with your idea.

• Read more opinion and point of view pieces from CBC Saskatchewan