BUSH WILL STAND FIRM ON MINIMUM WAGE

President Bush will veto any bill to increase the minimum wage beyond his own more-modest plan, says Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole. ``He's already compromised. He's gone more than half way,'' she said this week.

Last week, the House approved a plan to boost the wage floor to $4.55 an hour by late 1991, from $3.35 an hour. The Bush proposal would boost the minimum wage to $4.25 an hour by 1992. Both proposals would allow a lower training wage.

Bush says that going beyond his plan would boost unemployment by reducing the number of minimum-wage jobs.