Xinhua reports China’s central government has ordered that minimum wages be raised across the country to help compensate for the country’s drastically rising food costs. From the Associated Press (via the Kansas City Star Tribune):
Chinese leaders have been alarmed by a spike in inflation that saw the price of eggs rise 37.1 percent in May from their price in the same month last year. Meat and poultry were 26.5 percent more expensive in May compared to a year ago.
The increase “would have a great impact on low-income families,” the Xinhua News Agency said.
Local authorities were ordered Thursday to submit plans for raising minimum wage levels, which vary widely from region to region, the agency said. It gave no details on how much wages were to be raised. [Full Text]
In other labor news, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has approved a new law to protect the rights of contract laborers on the back of the Shanxi brick kiln slavery case. See: “China’s legislature approves new contract labor law” (AP via International Herald Tribune)
