Thousands join May Day protest in Manila
May 1, 2012, 6:08 AM
MANILA, Philippines (AP) – At least 8,000 workers have marched in the Philippine capital to demand an increase in the country’s minimum daily wage.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III rejected the May Day pleas for a $3 daily pay hike, saying it would worsen inflation, spark layoffs and turn away foreign investors.
Manila police chief Alex Gutierrez says about 8,000 members of a huge labor alliance marched for four kilometers (2.5 miles) Tuesday to the heavily barricaded Mendiola bridge near the presidential palace.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, some 500 people rallied, calling for a higher minimum wage than the one announced Monday by Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib’s plan for the country’s first-ever minimum wage calls for minimum monthly pay of 900 ringgit ($297) for private-sector workers in peninsula Malaysia.
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