He Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieres, considered that the reduction in working hours is “shot in the foot” if not associated with a increase in productivity, while he was especially critical of the trade union center PIT-CNT and defended what he considered government achievements in his area during the traditional lunch of the Association of Marketing Managers (ADM), where he also ratified that he will be a presidential candidate for the independent party and affirmed that he will promote a new programmatic agreement between the parties that make up the current government coalition.
Regarding the reduction in working hours proposed by the PIT-CNT trade union, Mieres considered that it could only be achieved through collective bargaining because if not “The company loses profitability and ends up making adjustments.” In addition, he referred to union conflict in the country and said that today it has two different causes: “One is the classic one, labor, which has to do with salary claims and dismissals. and the other is ideological political and it has to do with a confrontation that the trade union movement has with the government program, that was voted for by the majority of the citizens”, he emphasized.
In the eminently political phase of the speech, the hierarch highlighted several of the central points of the government program, among which he mentioned the educational reform, retirement and state reform. “They are ideological conflicts,” he pointed out when he also mentioned the Ancap union’s refusal to associate the company with the private sector.
Mieres also did not avoid talking about another of the controversial aspects of the current agenda under debate, such as the possibility of reducing the working day and said that it must necessarily be linked to productivity. “In this country there have already been agreements to reduce the working day in exchange for increased productivity, otherwise it is shooting yourself in the foot because the workers get the reduction in working hours, the company loses profitability and ends up doing settings and In the end, the adjustment ends up being paid by the jobs”, he claimed.
“It is especially curious because the union movement had wage recovery as its banner until a short time ago, when they realized that the salary recovery was already there, then the reduction of the working day appeared. Coincidences, I don’t know, but in any case it is an important issue”, Mieres criticized again.
independents in coalition
Mieres said that his party would sign a new “Commitment for the country” if the government coalition is reissued. “The Commitment to the country is a set of issues that unite us and are the ones that we promised to comply. This does not exhaust the party programs, each party will undoubtedly have its profile,” the minister replied, differentiating himself from his partner. Guido Manini Ríos, from Cabildo Abierto.
“It would be nice to be a basic roadmap, that does not address the issues that each one is going to have, but that allows us to give citizens a signal of where we are going, “he added.
employment data
For his part, the chief maintained that between 2021 and 2023, 110,000 jobs were recovered that had been lost, reaching figures for 2017, which meant that Uruguay recovered from the pandemic earlier than other countries.
“The data shows that there is more formal employment: 8 out of 10 workers are formal. Also that underemployment did not increase and that unemployment insurance is being reduced”, said the minister.
He further indicated that the purchasing power of wages was recovered, complying with the recovery schedule agreed with public officials. “Real wage recovery will be achieved by the end of this year,” he specified.
social security reform
The minister also referred to the social security reform and defined it as “a gradual reform, without sudden changes, and that it does not change the rules of the game for those who are about to retire”.
“It is not true what the opposition says, those who will retire now will not earn less ”, He stated and noted: “All the political parties in the 2019 electoral campaign had recognized that this reform was essential to achieve the sustainability of the system in the medium and long term.”
“The reform ensures a retirement and pension regime so that the new generations do not have the risk of losing rights due to insufficient resources. But it is also about a just reform because it promotes equity”, emphasized the also secretary of Social Security.
confirmed his presidential candidacy
Returning to define himself in a political tone, and shortly after beginning the electoral campaign, where he already announced that will again be a candidate for the Independent Party, Mieres summed up his speech in broad lines. “We have recovered employment despite the pandemic to the levels of 6 years ago. We have complied with the commitment to recover the purchasing power of wages, we have reduced informality, we have increased labor protections by increasing the inspection task ”, he pointed out.
On the other hand, the minister pointed out: “We have made important changes modernizing collective bargaining, we have maintained the highest levels of dialogue with all social actors and we have reformed Social Security for the good of the future of the country. All this in these 3 years and against the wind, by the way, of a pandemic and of the international conflicts that affect us”.
“Some leaders of the opposition insist that there is aimlessness, but on the other hand they attribute negative signs to us for the majority of Uruguayans. There is talk of increasing poverty, food insecurity, insufficient wages and We have heard the most unusual things in the face of the water crisis”, Indian.
For all this, Mieres culminated: “The debate is between the impulse and its brake. The citizen’s decision next year has perhaps more than other times a particular importance, because from the opposition there has been an express rejection of each and every one of the changes promoted, without alternatives on what to do.
Source: Ambito
