Annabella Quiroga
06/23/2020 - 8:00
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
Already in discount time for the payment of the Christmas bonus, the private sector insists on claiming some type of official aid to pay this section of the complementary annual salary. And they warn that if the lifeguard does not appear they will pay the Christmas bonus in installments , with or without agreement with the unions.
Last week from the government they were forceful in confirming that there will be no help for Christmas bonuses from the private sector. Labor Minister Claudio Moroni indicated that they also do not plan to implement any decree or resolution that gives free rein to quotas. "It is an agreement that companies and unions must reach," he said. The state has already begun to walk that path, as it will pay the bonuses in installments from those who collect more than $ 80,000 gross.
"For several weeks we have been talking with the union to quote the Christmas bonus and so far we have had no response ," Mario Grinman, director of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce (CAC) , told Clarín . "Paying in one installment is unfeasible. With or without the union's agreement, the businessman who cannot pay it all at once will pay it in installments . The shops that have not worked for three months - footwear, bookstores, textiles - will reach an oral agreement with their employees and they will pay in installments. "
Grinman argued that businesses could take advantage of the SME law passed in the 90s that enables small businesses to quote the payment. "If we do not reach an agreement with the union, reality will prevail. They will not pay before the end of the month either, most likely it will be paid in early July ."
The Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) still hopes that the government will give them a hand . This Tuesday they will have a virtual meeting with the Minister of Productive Development, Matías Kulfas, and they will put the Christmas bonus on the table again. The other topic they will raise will be the third stage of the Work and Production Assistance (ATP) program.
The government has already announced that this time the ATP will pay 50% of wages only in companies that are still closed for quarantine . For the others there will be a lower percentage of aid and soft credits. In addition, those with more than 800 employees will no longer have a subsidy.
"It is very important that the ATP continue for June salaries , especially if a tougher quarantine is resumed," Clarín was told by the entity. A recent UIA report indicated that half of companies will have difficulty coping with the Christmas bonus.
Also a report by Adimra, the entity that groups metalworkers, states that 19% of companies cannot afford the Christmas bonus. Of these, 87% are micro and small companies.
From the General Business Confederation (CGE), its president Marcelo Fernández explained that “70% of companies entered the ATP to be able to pay the wages of the previous months. So these same productive sectors would continue to need assistance to face the payment of the Christmas bonus . ” Fernández stressed that "all sectors that were inactive due to social, preventive and compulsory isolation will have problems to pay the Christmas bonus. For this reason, each productive sector is analyzing to negotiate with the unions to make the payment of the Christmas bonus in installments, in case the assistance of the State or the banks cannot be counted on. ”