Since December 1, the Minimum Living and Mobile Wage (SMVM) has stagnated at $156,000. The Council call should have been in December to update the assets since January 1, however they will meet this Thursday, February 15. With this delay, like the retirement project, it is assumed that the January value will be “skipped” and it is in doubt whether a new amount will be set retroactive to February 1 or will be in effect from March 1.
The Commission is chaired by the Secretary of Labor, Omar Yasín, and brings together union members from the CGT and CTA and representatives of business chambers such as the UIA. It implies a kind of national reference parity for salary increases in each activity. It is also relevant for updating social plans such as the Progresar Scholarships, the Potenciar Trabajo program (50% of the SMVM), retirements and unemployment insurance.
According to the CIFRA center, “during the government of M. Macri it lost 25% of its purchasing power, and to this was added an additional drop of 10% during the year with the greatest impact of the pandemic, which was not recovered later.” Furthermore, in the month of December 2023 alone, “the minimum wage was reduced in real terms by 14.8%.” Therefore, “it thus remained at a value that is 25.9% lower than that of December 2019 and 42.9% lower than that of the same month of 2015.” To this loss we must add the inflation for January of this year that will be published this Wednesday, but which is estimated at around 20%.
According to the Employment Contract Law, the minimum wage is “the lowest remuneration that the worker must receive in cash without family responsibilities, during his legal work day, so as to ensure adequate food, decent housing, education, clothing, assistance health, transportation and recreation, vacations and welfare.” And it must be adjusted periodically according to variations in the cost of living.
hunger wage
If we measure the minimum wage in relation to the basic food basket, which marks the limit of indigence, according to Indec for a “typical family” it was $240,679 in December; That is to say, the $156,000 minimum wage only covered 64.8% of it.
In relation to the total basic basket, which defines the poverty line and was $495,798 in that same month, “the minimum wage did not even reach a third of its value,” highlights the CIFRA report.
As for the Enhance Workwhich is calculated as 50% of the SMVM, the Minister of Economy Luis Caputo in one of his first statements announced that he did not foresee increases in the program for 2024 and that what was assigned would be according to what was established in the 2023 Budget. The program Social security reaches 1.2 million people and Labor reaffirmed the freezing of the amount of $998,000 million for all of 2024. However, in January alone, the interest payment on the public debt exceeded that amount, spending was $1,345,940 million.
Everything rises except salaries, with a 14% collapse in formal jobs in December, the highest since 1994, added to the increase in transportation rates of 250% and promises of a 200% increase in electricity with the IMF and more 150% in gas starting in February.
In turn, according to an Indec report, informal workers were the most affected. They had a loss of 57.5% in their income compared to 2016 (since that date Indec publishes the data) and they plummeted 14.2% in December alone.
From the CGT, Héctor Daer, one of the union representatives before the SMVM Council, announced that he will ask for an 85% increase. However, with this increase the value is still below a basic basket for a typical family, which will be around $600,000, not including rent, according to what Indec will report this Wednesday.
It is necessary for the union centers to call for a true plan of struggle, a strike is not enough. To overturn Milei’s adjustment plan and Bullrich’s repressive protocol, but also to index salaries, pensions and allowances to inflation and recover everything lost. For a minimum wage, which is equal to the basic family basket.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
