Kazakh Trade Union Protests Food Price Increases

September 27, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The head of Kazakhstan's largest trade union says his organization will demand that the government resign if it does not alleviate the recent high increases in the price of basic foods and utilities by October 1.

Qayrat Amandyqov, the chairman of Kazakhstan's Trade Unions Federation, said the actual inflation rate in Kazakhstan was some 15-20 percent, not the 8.2 percent that the government reported.

Prices in basic goods have sharply increased in recent weeks and a further increase is expected at the start of October. The Trade Unions Federation has some 2 million members.