The CGT will ask for an increase of “85% of the minimum, living and mobile wage” in the next meeting called for February 15th, as he said Clarion the head of the CGT, Héctor Daer.
The minimum wage has fallen significantly in recent years. In 2023 alone the minimum wage increased by 151.8% amid inflation of 211.4%. A loss of 19%. In relation to the basic food basket, the decline was greater, equal to 25%.
“The devaluation, which adds to the brutal inflation accumulated in the December 2023-February 2024 period, especially in the basic food and healthcare basket supplies, requires an upgrade of at least 85%,” Daer said,
In reality, the SMVM Council should have been convened in December to define the values for the first months of 2023. Then, it was promised to convene it for the first days of January and then between the 20th and 30th of this month. Finally, he was summoned for February 15, according to resolution no. 27/24 of the Ministry of Human Capital.
The SMVM for December was $156,000 in monthly payments or $780 per hour. In December 2022 it was $61,953 monthly or $309.77 per hour.
The SMVM Commission brings together members of the CGT and CTA trade unions and business representatives such as the UIA. It constitutes a sort of national parity that can set the percentages of wage increases that unions and employers would be willing to accept for all activities.
According to CIFRA (Research and Training Center of the Argentine Republic), “the purchasing power of the minimum, living and mobile wage has shown a negative trend since 2011, particularly strong in the last two years of Mauricio Macri’s government and in 2020.” This decline was even greater than the actual loss in recorded wages.”
Then, “between 2021 and 2022, in a context of rising inflation, seven updates to the minimum wage occurred, which did not achieve a recovery of its purchasing power. The year 2022 ended with an average decline in the real minimum wage of 1.3%, which placed it 33% below the 2015 level.” With the loss in 2023 the drop is 45%.
The law on employment contracts attributes three characteristics to the minimum, living and mobile wage. It is the lowest salary that the worker without family responsibilities must receive in cash for his working day. It must ensure adequate food, decent housing, education, clothing, healthcare, transportation, recreation, holidays and pension coverage. And it must be adjusted periodically based on changes in the cost of living.
It is more than evident that those who receive the SMVM, plus the possible collection of the family salary per child, find themselves unable to cover all the requirements established by the law on employment contracts when the poverty basket for a typical family is about $600,000, not including rent. The SMVM is therefore not minimal, it is not vital nor mobile with respect to the level and increase in prices.
Source: Clarin
