Editing Gary Doer (section)

===Labour issues===
The Doer government introduced a number of labour reforms early in its first mandate, making it easier for unions to obtain certification and giving employees increased powers to move disputes to binding arbitration.  Business leaders opposed the changes, though Doer argued that the bill was far less contentious than opponents made it out to be.<ref>David Kuxhaus, "Premier tries to placate business riled by contentious labour law changes", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 2 August 2000, A1; David Kuxhaus, "Voters seem satisfied with Doer government", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 2 October 2000, A4.</ref>  In 2004, Doer rejected a call by party members to introduce legislation that would ban replacement workers in labour disputes.<ref>"Premier won't ban replacement workers", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 8 March 2004, A5.</ref>

Doer's government increased Manitoba's minimum wage from $6.00 to $6.25 in November 2000, and brought in subsequent increases of 25 cents on an annual basis.<ref>"Manitoba bumps up minimum wage in the province by 25 cents an hour", ''Canadian Press'', 29 November 2000, 20:55; "Survival above all" [editorial], ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 29 December 2001, A14.</ref>  By April 2005, the minimum wage had been increased to $7.25.  Some argued that this was still short of a living wage.<ref>Dennis Howlett, "The call for a living wage: activists fighting for fair wages across the country", ''Canadian Dimension'', 1 May 2005, p. 25.</ref>  The minimum wage was increased to $8.50 in 2008.<ref>[https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/doc,minimum-wage,factsheet.html#q156 "What is the minimum wage?"], Government of Manitoba, accessed 12 December 2007.</ref>  In 2005, the Doer government introduced a bill to expand provincial workers' compensation coverage.<ref>Paul Egan, "Compensation plan to cover all workers", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 13 April 2005, A1.</ref>

The Doer government announced in late 2007 that temporary foreign workers and modeling agencies would be included under the ''Employment Standards Act'', to prevent worker exploitation.<ref>[http://www.mfl.mb.ca/esa-chnges.shtml "Legislation to Protect Models and Foreign Workers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218153616/http://www.mfl.mb.ca/esa-chnges.shtml |date=18 December 2007 }}, Manitoba Federation of Labour, 21 November 2007.</ref>