Growers Want Prices Lifted From 1996 Level

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 09/23/2011

The Union of Tobacco Farmers in Lebanon, which is urging the government to increase the minimum wage from LP500,000 to LP1.2 million per month, has expressed support for the proposed October 12 nation-wide strike called by the General Labor Confederation, according to a Daily Star story. The union has urged the Finance Ministry to increase leaf prices by 30 per cent, claiming that prices have remained unchanged since 1996 while the tobacco growers' cost of living has risen by 120 per cent. "For another year, inflation persists in a way that is eating into farmers' incomes, which, in the first place, are meager," it was quoted as saying. Enditem