Faced with inflation, Montreal groups call for higher wages

On this labour day, Montreal groups are asking for better wages, as inflation has people worried about paying their bills.

Demonstrators gathered at Parc Lafontaine in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough Monday afternoon to demand wages keep up with rising costs.

Atefa Akbary is with the socialism advocacy group La Riposte Syndicale.

She said the current system -- capitalism -- benefits few and disadvantages many.

The protest comes at a time when many large corporations have reported record-high profits.

"As long as we live under a capitalist society, we will continue seeing this: a minority of people getting richer and richer while the majority of workers are being pushed into poverty," she said.

Akbary believes the money is there to fix the housing, health care and education crises in Quebec.

The solution, she says, is to nationalize funds, meaning taking private money and putting it under the control of the government.

"There is money to address all of those single issues but the problem is that the money is in the bank account of corporations," she said. "We need to go and get that money. That money exists."

As the province heads into another election, workers rallying at the park said they want to see the government raise the minimum wage.

"Raise it right now to $18 an hour," said Dominnique Daigneault, president of the CSN union's Montreal council. "It's the minimum to live decently."

Daigneault said she's witnessed how the rising cost of living has impacted workers.

"People are sick. Psychologically and physically."