A labour leader in the province says if the PC government is interested in developing anti-poverty measures, one of the places where it could start is with minimum wage.

The Wakeham administration has been putting together a poverty reduction strategy, which the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour sees as a good thing.

The lowest-paid workers got a 35-cent raise this week, bringing their base pay to $16.35 an hour.

Labour President Jessica McCormick welcomes an increase, but notes that the living wage in eastern Newfoundland, which includes St. John’s, is just over $24 an hour. In Labrador and on the Northern Peninsula, it’s in the $28 range.

“I don’t want to see anyone working their guts out for 35 hours a week and still struggling to make ends meet,” McCormick told the Tim Powers Show on VOCM.

“We should be paying a competitive minimum wage and have it closer to what a living wage would be, especially now as poverty reduction is one of the objectives of this government and fuel and other prices are going up significantly.”