After PDVSA workers walked off the job last December in a bid to force Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez from office, the fiery populist hitched his social revolution to the $110 billion business: He purged the company's ranks and installed his own people. What was widely regarded as a world-class energy company before the strike has a new philosophy: to help the poor. And a new corporate culture is gradually taking shape, injected with the president's particular brand of leftist ideology.***
May 2, 2003 - Venezuela Government Says Minimum Wage To Rise 30% By October [Full Text] CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela's minimum wage will rise to 247,104 bolivars ( $1=VEB1598) per month as of October, 30% higher than the current VEB190,080 per month, the government's Venpres news agency reported late Thursday
The rate will initially rise 10% to VEB209,088 per month in July, Venpres said in a report correcting President Hugo Chavez's initial announcement Wednesday that the final rate will be VEB237,000 a month. The increase will affect 582,000 workers in the public sector and 2.37 million in the private sector, according to Venpres. Venezuela's total workforce is about 11 million of its 24 million people.
Local media reported the public-sector portion of the increase will cost the government about VEB800 billion. The pay hikes will probably fall short of consumer price increases this year, seen hitting 50% as the country's economic crisis deepens. Analysts estimate the economy will shrink at least 10% this year following last year's 8.9% contraction amid 17% unemployment. Last year, the government increased the minimum wage by 20%, but inflation ended the year at 31.2%, severely affecting purchasing power. [End} -By Jehan Senaratna, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212 564 1339; jehan.senaratna@dowjones.com