Chavez Announces 10 Pct. Minimum Wage Hike

CARACAS, Venezuela
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday announced a 10 percent boost in the minimum wage starting Sept. 1 _ the second such increase this year.

"We have decided on an additional 10 percent minimum wage increase beginning Sept. 1," he said in a televised address to celebrate Labor Day.

Venezuela's minimum wage now at US$216 (euro172.29) a month will rise to US$238 (euro189.84) a month, the president said.

The wage hike will benefit 749,000 people, he said.

Chavez's government last raised the minimum wage in February by 15 percent.

Chavez also announced a series of labor law revisions as well as pension and wage increases in what he called another step in paying off the "social debt" the country owes to the poor.

The salaries of public school teachers will receive a 30 percent increase in pay starting May 1 and a further 10 percent starting Oct. 1, he said.

Chavez has promised to continue a generous redistribution of the country's windfall oil gains this year ahead of presidential elections in December.