On April 21, Cuban President Fidel Castro announced an increase in the minimum wage to 225 pesos (US$9.40) a month, up from 100 pesos now. The increase will affect 1,657,191 workers, most of them working in agriculture, the service sector, the food industry, or working as auxiliary staff in hospitals and schools. The increase will cost the state 1.6 billion pesos, and raise the nation's average wage from 282 pesos to 300 pesos a year. At the end of March, Castro announced big increases in pension payments.
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
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