Tag: wages

Australia hikes minimum wage as inflation soars

SYDNEY , Australia (AFP) — Australia raised the minimum wage by over five percent on Thursday, a slower-than-inflation increase as prices for basic goods soar. The Fair Work Commission set the new minimum rate at Aus$21.38 (US$14.75) an hour, a 5.2 percent increase. Inflation is forecast to hit seven percent by the end of the year, according to central bank governor Philip Lowe. Food, fuel and other costs have been pushed higher by Russia’s invasion […]

School’s out in Zimbabwe after 135,000 teachers suspended

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — A strike by Zimbabwean teachers that has crippled learning entered a second week on Monday, with no resolution on sight after the government suspended 135,000 teachers for failing to report for work. Many teachers did not report for work when schools opened for the first term of the new year last week, saying they could no longer afford the commute from their home to the classroom. An AFP correspondent who toured […]

Venezuela triples wages but still not enough to buy food

  CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela nearly tripled its minimum wage Saturday but inflation is so outrageous that that amount of money will not even buy a kilo of meat. Labor Minister Eduardo Pinate announced the raise to government supporters at a May Day rally in Caracas. The new monthly minimum wage is seven million bolivares, which is equivalent to $2.50. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat in Venezuela costs about $3.75. The once-wealthy oil […]

South Korean soldiers’ wages almost doubled

(AFP) — South Korea nearly doubled wages for its rank-and-file conscripted soldiers on Tuesday but their pay will remain just a fraction of the country’s minimum wage. Salaries for conscripted privates were raised 88 percent from 163,000 won to 306,100 won ($288) a month, with privates first class and corporals enjoying similar increases. But they remain far below South Korea’s minimum wage of 10,000 won ($9.40) per hour. President Moon Jae-In has promised to increase […]

Immigration, wages, Islamic State main themes in Obama’s last State of the Union address

U.S. President Barack Obama was set on Tuesday (January 12) to deliver his final State of the Union address to a joint meeting of Congress. He was expected to speak optimistically about America’s future, one of his few remaining chances to capture and hold the attention of millions of Americans before the November 8 election of a new president who will take office next January. Obama’s speech is expected to stick to themes he hopes […]