The union representatives proposed that it be $572,000 in December, but the business chambers offered $278,000.
Report by Liliana Franco.- The Secretary of Labor will once again mediate between unions and employers after the wide differences that were once again shown at the last meeting of the Salary Councilwhich occurred this Thursday. The Government must define by decree the value of the minimum wageset at $271,571 as of October of this year.
As Ámbito was able to reconstruct, in the meeting the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) requested that the Minimum, Vital and Mobile Wage was established in December around the $572,000a requirement that obtained the support of the two representations of the Central Workers of Argentina (CTA). This union coincidence had not occurred until now during the management of Javier Milei.
However, the counterproposal of the business chambers came from the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA)who offered to fix on $278,000 the minimum wage for the current month, with a series of increases in the first quarter of 2025: $284,000 in january, $290,000 in February and $295,000 in March of next year.
Julio Cordero Secretary of Labor.jpg
Given the difference between the positions, the Ministry of Labor -headed by Julio Cordero- will define the new minimum wage by decree, as occurred throughout the year. In its last ruling, the organization established in July an increase of 15.9% in four months, which it set in October at $271,571, value that remains valid. This 2024 the minimum income rose by 74.08%, but inflation accumulated 107%.
The minimum wage has less purchasing power than in 2001
The minimum, vital and mobile wage (SMVM) accumulated a loss of 28% year-on-year until November of this year. The sharp drop is explained as a consequence of the increase in inflation, with a peak of 25.5% in December after the devaluation, and the increase in rates, according to a study prepared by the Interdisciplinary Institute of Political Economy of the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the UBA.
The report titled “Panorama of formal salaried employment and remuneration” shows that the decline in the SMVM began in December 2023, when it contracted 15% due to the inflationary acceleration and deepened even further in January with a fall of 17%.
This trend was momentarily interrupted in the following months, a period during which the nominal increase accompanied inflation, so no additional reductions were observed. In the month of June there was a new fall (-4.4%), followed by some recovery in July (4.3%) and for consecutive reductions in the following three months.
The decreasing trend of previous years, in addition to the strong contraction of these months, placed the minimum wage at a value lower than that registered in 2001, prior to the convertibility crisis.. Likewise, this implies an erosion of almost 60% compared to the maximum value of the series, in September 2011.
Source: Ambito
