The World Bank's staff association said on Friday that Wolfowitz, the ex-US deputy defence secretary, had "destroyed" the trust of employees and should quit.
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"The sooner he is fired the better for all of us"
Manuka, Whitianga, New Zealand
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"He must act honourably and resign," the de facto union said in a letter to the World Bank's 10,000 staff.
The bank's 24 executive directors said the ethics committee had not been involved in the decision to award Shaha Riza rises that gave her a salary greater than that of Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state.
They adjourned a meeting on Wolfowitz's future, saying they would move quickly to reach a decision.
'An object of scorn'
The Financial Times newspaper also called for Wolfowitz to go in an editorial on Friday.
"If the president stays [the World Bank] risks becoming an object not of respect, but of scorn, and its campaign in favour of good governance not a believable struggle, but blatant hypocrisy," it said.
The controversy has become a deep embarrassment for Wolfowitz as he battles to overcome scepticism about a campaign that he is waging against corruption in the 185-member World Bank's multi-billion-dollar lending.
He is also under fire for his management style, following a series of clashes with the board and hostility towards his appointment of US Republican party allies to jobs in his inner circle.
Wolfowitz, a "neo-conservative" hawk, was nominated two years ago by Bush, a move widely seen as controversial given his position as a main architect of the Iraq war.
Pay rises 'a mistake'
Wolfowitz apologised on Thursday for authorising the rises for Riza, describing the move as a "mistake".
"I made a mistake for which I am sorry", he told a press conference in Washington.
Wolfowitz refused to say if he might have to resign as the World Bank's board of governors discuss the row.