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An increase to minimum wage could be around the corner, according to Manitoba’s labour minister.
Erna Braun, Minister of Labour for the Greg Selinger NDP government, used her address to the Prairies Regional Council to suggest that the province’s lowest paid workers could get a raise this year.
“I have asked the Labour Management Review Committee to make recommendations on possible changes to the minimum wage for 2014,” said Braun, who later said that minimum wage has increased every year since the NDP was elected in 1999.
Manitoba’s minimum wage is $10.45 per hour, third highest among Canadian jurisdictions behind Nunavut ($11.00) and the Yukon ($10.54). The Ontario government has pledged to increase its minimum wage to $11 on June 1.
Braun also highlighted her government’s changes to the Workplace Safety and Health Amendment Act. Amendments to the act allow immediate penalties to be assessed for “contraventions that present imminent danger to workers’ safety or health.”
When asked about the obstacles preventing her government from implementing legislation prohibiting replacement workers, she said that discussions are underway and that her government is not avoiding the issue.
