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Changes affecting unions would take effect when the bill receives royal assent or when regulations are completed. The $13-per-hour youth wage has been executed through an Order in Council and will take effect June 26.

Wage cut not ethical, says 16-year-old worker

The lower wage will apply for the first 28 hours worked by a student while school is in session. For every hour over that, they must be paid the full $15 minimum hourly wage.

During breaks and summer holidays, the youth rate will apply to all hours worked.

Speaking at a press conference at an Edmonton bar Monday, Premier Jason Kenney said it would help get young people back to work.

But 16-year-old Karissa Goulding, who works at a Fort Saskatchewan restaurant, countered that the changes “don’t seem ethical.”

“I think it’s crazy for me to be paid less when I work just as hard as my adult colleagues,” she said.

Goulding, who was at the legislature speaking against Bill 2 alongside opposition leader Rachel Notley and Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan, said her father was laid off last year.

“This concept that youth like myself don’t have bills to pay is dead wrong,” she said.

“(The youth wage cut) represents the government telling me that they know more about my situation than I do (and) … my work is not valued as much as my adult colleagues’.”

Goulding said her boss told her her wages will be cut when the change comes into effect. As a result, she said, she’ll have to work more hours, which will eat into her study time.