Owen Sound council declined a request to symbolically implement a living wage policy.
The request for a minimum 15 dollars an hour for city employees came earlier this year from the group Peace and Justice Grey Bruce.
A city staff report pointed out the city already pays full time employees that much so council took no action on the matter.
That disappointed the Peace and Justice group. Member Jill Umbach says they wanted the city to take the action as a symbolic gesture with wider implications in the community.
It was acknowledged by the city that part time and seasonal Owen Sound employees are well under the 15 dollar an hour rate. But council concluded those workers are mostly younger people with different economic realities.
"It's the leadership that this council could have shown that would have said, as an employer, this is what we choose to do," said Umbach.
