Peter Boyd is 29-years-old and works at a factory.

He makes $14 an hour and doesn't get the full time hours he needs.

"I am only getting literally under $700 every two weeks and I am having a hard time living off that," he said.

Struggles like Boyd's are something Nicole Beaulieu sees a lot.

Her organization helps hundreds of workers in Sudbury who are finding it tough to make ends meet.

"If they are working minimum wage jobs, or multiple minimum wage jobs, they still can't afford a decent quality of life," said Beaulieu, Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre executive director.

"We also see workers who are not always paid properly, so they struggle even more.

Joseph Leblanc is with the Social Planning Council of Sudbury, a local charity that addresses issues like this in the city.

"These are individuals that are considered a working poor, so making under a living wage, which we have calculated in Sudbury to be around $16.50 an hour.  Any job that you see in retail or other places where there are not full time hours, there is not a lot of security and the wage is not at a level that is required to live a full life here," Leblanc said.

The struggles can even include dietary issues.

Boyd said he has a hard time eating healthy on his income.

"Junk, basically, for the human body. We should be able to eat proper nutrition. Obviously in stores they have $10 packages, but that is all processed and that’s basically what I am living off of," he said.

Many people agree Bill 148 - the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act - is long overdue.

"Our labour market has changed a lot, there are a lot more temporary jobs, casual positions, and so the law has to change. It has to be modernized and it needs to try and fix these issues and close that income gap," Beaulieu said.

"We do want to see the number of good jobs increase," added Leblanc.

"We want to see an opportunity for our youth to stay here and live here, and find a future here."

Right now the Social Planning Council is doing a research project to find out exactly how many  people  in the city are dealing with income inequity.

Leblanc says even though many people are working two to three part time jobs, they still need to turn to food banks and other charities to survive.