The 10th Round of Salary Councils in Uruguay is about to come to an end, after 97% of the tables closed, with the aim of recovering the salary purchasing power in the next two years, as confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS).
The first data provided by the MTSS indicate that, of the 182 tables that renegotiated their collective bargaining agreements, 176 managed to close agreements. This represents almost 660,000 workers in the private activity, of which the majority – 75% – signed tripartite agreements voted by workers, employers and the Executive Branch; while 6% were bipartite and had the government abstaining.
Likewise, a large part of the agreements followed the guidelines outlined by the Ministry in charge of Pablo Mieres. That is, a large part of the sectors that participated in the salary round signed agreements with a two-year extension, semiannual adjustments for projected inflation, and a component of full recovery of real salary lost during the Covid-19 pandemic — which could not be recovered during the last round of negotiations (2021-2023).
With this guideline, the MTSS sought to recover the lost purchasing power in a period that does not exceed the first months of 2025, in the worst case. The time period coincides with the end of the current administration of the Uruguayan State, a date to which the government intends to reach with the salary promise fulfilled.
“According to the 10th Round of Salary Councils, which is practically completed, around 90% of workers who agree on their salary through Collective negotiation They will have already recovered their purchasing power or they will recover it in the course of next year,” confirmed Minister Mieres during a presentation of the portfolio, as an annual balance sheet. Likewise, he recalled that the purchasing power of the salary has already recovered above 2019 levels.
The inflation reduction During the last months it was a key factor in achieving improved salaries for workers.
Purchasing power growth by 2024
The MTSS also anticipated that 2024 will have a growth in the purchasing power of salaries for next year, and celebrated that the minimum salary It already registers an average increase of 1.2% in the management headed by Mieres.
When considering the management, during a press conference with the undersecretary of the portfolio, Mario Arizti, The head of the MTSS highlighted that this year there was a sustained recovery of the employment, with 39,500 workers in unemployment insurance, the lowest amount recorded since March 2015.
At the same time, Mieres pointed out that the rate of unemployment is at an average of 8.2%, that is, “significantly lower than in 2020, with 10.5%,” while he specified that “jobs continue to increase and the current figure is similar to that of 2016 and the activity rate also achieved records similar to those of 2015.”
Finally, he highlighted that the indicator of informality It stands at 22%. “It is still below the average before the pandemic, which represents more workers with rights to social security,” said the minister.
Source: Ambito
