The union leaders of the Dominican Republic warned business owners yesterday that they were obliged to honor the new wage scale signed on 26 October and would otherwise face renewed and more stringent efforts by the labor groups to have their wages increased. The Listin Diario says that Rafael Abreu, the head of the CGT syndicate, and Marialo Lebron, of the National Council of Union Solidarity (CNUS), told reporters that if Labor Minister Ramon Fadul accepted the challenge from CONEP with regard to Resolution 02-04, he would create a chaotic situation and the unions would be forced to go before the Labor Tribune and the National Congress. The union leaders met at the CNUS offices to elaborate their position regarding the employers’ claims that the resolution is illegal because it exceeds the scope of the National Salaries Commission, the body responsible for issuing the new wage scales. Nevertheless, CONEP, the country’s foremost private sector representative, has urged its members to abide by the resolution and increase their employees’ salaries by the suggested increments if they have not already done so during the past ten months.