The issue is that the fixed sum was highly rejected by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) because it tends to flatten salary scales, which creates problems for future negotiations. If the fixed sum is later incorporated into the salary as one more remunerative item, then different percentages of salary increases would have to be set to recompose scales. In some cases, the percentage to be negotiated in a joint reopening could even be ridiculous.
The unions will not have a hard time justifying a request for reorganization before the companies. By case, A study carried out by the Argentine Political Economy Center (CEPA) maintains that from 2015 to date the labor cost has been losing weight in the cost structure of a group of first-tier companies. And even so, some data from the private sector show that companies are planning revenue recompositions well below inflation levels.
The CEPA report is based on a follow-up of the balance sheets of Ledesma, Aluar, Molinos Río de la Plata and Arcor. “It is observed that the labor cost rose in 2022 to 16.7%. The downward trend of this figure from 2014/15 to the present is evident”, indicates the report.
The work reflects that the labor cost “is reduced to 16.7% in the last partial data that was known in 2022 in relation to the same period of 2021, where the figure reaches 17.8%”. The CEPA indicates that in the case of Ledesma, in 2014 they represented 24.7%, while now it is 21.1%. For Arcor, in 2016 it was 25.7% of the total and now it is 20.8%; Molinos drops from 20.9% to 13.5% since 2017, and Aluar went from 18.7% in 2014 to 11.5% in 2022.
The report of the study center directed by Hernán Letcher, today a member of the YPF board, raises one of the views of the ruling party regarding the distributive bid. He argues that while the share of wages was decreasing in the total cost structure of these four companiessales grew 7.5% above.
It also explains that, if the four selected industrial companies are considered, Ledesma, Aluar, Molinos Río de la Plata and Arcor, it is observed that profitability (measured as operating income on sales) increased from 9.1% to 12.5%. Extending the same calculation to La Anónima, Clarín, Ternium, PAE and Tecpetrol the labor cost of 15.4% estimated for the partial period measurement of 2021 is reduced to 15% in the measurement of the partial period 2022 while in relation to the variation in sales, the situation improves for companies by 1.5%.
Inflation has been eating away at the purchasing power of salaries, as shown by different measurements. The average salary of the registered sector of the economy reached $148,811.85 in July, a figure that marks a drop in purchasing power of 1.15% in the first seven months of the year. Only in July, the salary lost 2.1 points against inflation. The average salary grew 5.3% compared to June, while the CPI prepared by the Indec, did the same 7.4%.
To all this, the companies plan to continue trading downwards. They anticipate granting this year an increase of 71% in the salaries received by their directors who are not under an agreement, which gives a general guideline on the salary issue. A survey carried out among 473 firms by the international human resources consulting firm Mercer, indicates that the companies work with an inflation hypothesis for this year of 70.6%. By 2023 they plan to grant a 60% increase, with a projected inflation scenario of 61.8%. The report clarifies that the data for its budget projections are adjusted throughout the year.
Source: Ambito
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