An NDP government would raise the minimum wage and create further legislation to support working people in the territory, the party announced this morning.

The announcement was made by NDP Leader Liz Hanson and Porter Creek Centre candidate Jean-Francois Des Lauriers outside the front doors of the Yukon Workers' compensation board building.

The proposed plan would include an increase in the hourly minimum wage to $10, the introduction of legislation to protect young workers, and strengthening the role of the workers' advocate and enacting whistleblowers legislation in the territory.

"The current economic boom has not benefited all people equally,” said Hanson. "The Fentie/ Pasloski government has failed to provide adequate support to the most vulnerable workers,” she said.

A major focus of the plan would be to boost the minimum wage from $9 to $10 per hour.

"Well, at $10 an hour, we are talking about a wage of less than $20,000 per year working at a schedule of 40 hours per week, every day of the year. That is less than the poverty line,” said Des Lauriers.

"In a town and a territory where people pay an average of $1,000 per month, that is just unacceptable.”

Des Lauriers commented that the Yukon's current minimum wage of $9 is the second-lowest in the country after British Columbia. By contrast, the lowest-paid employees in the Northwest Territories earn $10 per hour, $11 in Nunavut.

During their first term in office, the NDP would also enact whistleblower legislation to offer protection to government employees who wish to report wrongdoing.

"We want to make sure that every government worker has the freedom to identify where there is wrongdoing,” said Hanson.

"Public services, I would hazard to say, is governed by a climate of fear.

"Across territorial departments, people have told me that they have serious concerns, and if you cannot raise them without fear of retribution, then ultimately the public good is not being served,” she said.

Another aspect of the plan would be to create job safety training for youth, a program which the party said would result in less workplace injuries without additional red tape for small businesses in the territory.

"When we put out the small business platform, we talked about the need for offering opportunities to small businesses in particular to have access to training on an ongoing basis,” she said.

"Because some businesses cannot afford to take the time off, there are different ways to deliver the training, and we will assure it is accessible to all.”

Increasing the minimum age requirements in certain industries will also be a priority.

Rick Karp, president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, welcomes the new safety legislation today.

"Having on-the-job safety training available to all is a very valuable tool and it is something we really need,” said Karp.

"It has been shown that a safer workplace reduces costs.

"The workers' compensation board has been pushing for this kind of thing for a long time. As a result of safer workplaces, our interest assessment rates are dropping but more has to be done. I tend to agree with the NDP on this, and I would expand it.”

Karp was less supportive of the minimum wage increase.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find many workers making minimum wage in Yukon,” he said.

When minimum wages increase, he said, it only puts a strain on service sector employers who have to pay more to students and very young workers.

"Minimum wage was never meant to be the social safety net that the NDP have made it out to be,” he said.

Today's announcement was a reaffirmation of the NDP's image as a party of working people in the territory, something Hanson said she will remain committed to if elected on Oct 11.

"The current government has failed to provide adequate support for the most vulnerable workers. A new NDP government will stand up for working people,” she said.