With inflation that remains in double digits - January was 20.6% and is expected to be between 15% and 18% for February -
the situation in Argentine pockets is increasingly complex
.
Parity agreements and salary increases cannot keep up with the pace and speed with which prices rise, however, the unions fight and seek to improve the conditions of the workers who are under their umbrella.
Some sectors manage to achieve a few percentage points of increases, and others, however, navigate in the midst of conflict.
In this second group there are still: Buenos Aires and national teachers, construction workers, metallurgists and those in the gas industry.
Below, one by one, which sectors will receive raises and bonuses in March.
Banking
With Sergio Palazzo at the helm, the business chambers and La Bancaria - one of the strongest unions at the local level - have been actively working since the beginning of the year to improve the income of their workers.
In mid-February they managed to get the February starting salary (which they will now receive in March) plus "Profit Sharing"
to bring salaries above $1 million.
The millionaire figure is made up of an
initial salary of $991,347.87 and the participation that reaches $44,774.73.
In total, the union's workers earn $1,036,122.60 this month, as reported in an official statement.
This increase that was determined for salaries since February, workers will now receive in the third month of the year.
Building Managers
Two days before the end of February, the Single Union of Rental and Horizontal Building Workers (SUTERH) agreed jointly
to increase salaries for February by 45% over the salary for the first month of the year
.
In addition, the union warned that it will meet with businessmen in the next few hours for a new recomposition.
It is calculated on the basic salary corresponding to the month of January 2024 "for the fourth category" and will be applied "to the additional agreement and proportionally to the remaining" in the remuneration of February 2024.
With the new increases, the basic price of a permanent manager with fourth category housing
reaches $441,477.
"The country is going through an unprecedented crisis, this difficult moment demands a lot of responsibility and support for all workers. Today (February 27) we closed the joint negotiations with a 45% increase on the basic January salary of our affiliates," said Víctor Santa María, the general secretary of the general secretary of SUTERH.
Commercial employees
Six days ago, the Argentine Federation of Commerce and Services Employees and the business chambers of the sector
signed a new joint agreement corresponding to the 2023 joint agreement
for commercial activity.
Within this framework, a non-remunerative increase in the basics of 17.6% from February 2024
was agreed , plus a remunerative percentage of 11%.
Thus, the basic salary for a commercial worker, with presenteeism,
is $658,000.
The non-remunerative amount mentioned will be incorporated into the scales for the month of April 2024, for its nominal value.
The agreement is valid
from February 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024,
without prejudice to which the parties agreed to meet in the month of March to analyze the economic variations that may have occurred.
In March, the parties will meet again for a review.
truckers
Another of the strong unions, the Truck Drivers Federation, led by Hugo and Pablo Moyano, reached its second salary agreement of the year six days ago.
The agreement
implies a 45% increase that they will receive in two tranches:
25% on March salaries and 20% on April salaries.
In addition, an additional increase of 2% was agreed for the Logistics, Mail and Express branches, as well as for items such as Specialty, Food and Per diem, as Truckers had publicly demanded when the previous joint meeting ended.
The basic salary of a first-class driver will reach $437,000 in March, and in April it will rise to $546,286.81.
Domestic workers
In mid-February, Casas Particulares employees reached a 35% increase, divided into two parts: 20% for February and 15% for March.
The novelty, in this sense, is that for the first time they managed to make
the increase cumulative, which implies that the adjustment will round out 38%
Workers who are paid monthly will receive 20% for February in March.
And 15% planned for the third month of the year, in April.
In this way, the minimum wage per hour for employees with retirement will be $1,699.8, and for employees without retirement, it will be 1,833.6.
For those who charge monthly, it will be $208,509.6 for those with withdrawal, and $231,860.4 for those with a "bed inside" modality (the values are provisional, since they have not yet been published in the Official Gazette) .
For the fourth month of the year, the figures will be: $1,954.8 per hour with withdrawal;
and $2,108.6 for those without withdrawal.
And the month: $239,786.0 and $266,639.5, respectively.
Railways
Three of the four railway unions - Unión Ferroviaria, Association of Argentine Railway Signalers and Association of Management Personnel of Argentine Railways and Ports - arrived at a salary increase that contemplates
a 12% increase for February
(which employees will receive in March) and another
12% non-remunerative on the current gross salary corresponding to the second month of the year.
The La Fraternidad Train Drivers Union, on the other hand, rejected the offer and are waiting until the last joint hearing next Friday to decide "how to continue."
Feeding
Food workers grouped in the Food Workers Federation (FTIA)
agreed to a 20.9% increase in February on December 2023 salaries
.
The joint discussion reopens this month.
The Federation of Food Workers agreed to $40,000 as a one-time extraordinary sum, plus a cumulative 34% in January over the month of December.
Although the sum of the increases amounts to 54.9%, since they are cumulative percentages,
the total improvement is 62%
in relation to December salaries.
Added to this are 40,000 pesos.
In March the joint venture will reopen.
insurance union
The workers of the Insurance Union agreed to a 54% increase for the first two months, divided into 32% for January and 22% for February (the latter they will receive now).
For “group 1” employees (for 8 hours of work per day), they will receive a gross salary of $930,000.
Salary updates are made based on
salaries from December 2023 until further agreement.
Private security
The Personal Security Union of the Argentine Republic (UPSRA) agreed
for March and April salaries
that the basis for the increase calculation will be obtained based on the
average of the CPI for December 2023 and January 2024.
meat industry
The Union Federation of Personnel of the Meat and its Derivatives Industry and the meat processing industry
agreed to an increase of 40% and it adds up to 100% in two months
.
In addition, workers will receive
a non-remunerative bonus of $150,000
.
The improvement for the 2023/24 period will be 230%.
Pastry chefs
The salary increase will be 24% non-remunerative
on January basic salaries for the Pastry Branch.
In February this increase is added to the basic one.
Mercado Libre Employees
Now, workers will receive the differential between the February CPI percentage and the provisional 17% agreed for March 2024.
In March, they will also meet again to review the agreements, taking into account the evolution of the cost of living.
Loading and Unloading Workers
The union closed
an increase of 51% for the January-March quarter, in 3 installments of 17%
and established an automatic review clause according to inflation data.
Tankers
In the last few hours, the oil unions agreed to
a salary adjustment of 20.6% corresponding to January 2024.
The increase will be paid with the salaries of February and March, and are in line with inflation at the national level in the first month of the year.
This recomposition
will become remunerative starting next April.
The unions and companies will meet again in March
to discuss the annual parity taking into consideration the CPI for February and March.
Sports entity workers
The Union of Workers of Sports and Civil Entities (UTEDYC) agreed to a
13% salary increase in February
, based on increases agreed to December 2023.
Now in March, they will meet again to begin negotiations for the 2024 joint period.
Hotel, gastronomic and tourism
The Union of Tourism, Hotel and Gastronomic Workers (UTHGRA), chaired by Luis Barrionuevo,
agreed to a total increase of 90% quarterly
, to be collected in 30% installments in March, April and May.
Plus
a one-time bonus that will be 15% for February
and can be paid until March 20.
Health
The Federation of Associations of Argentine Health Workers (FATSA), led by Héctor Daer, agreed two days ago to
salary increases for all agreements in the healthcare sector
.
They agreed to a total increase of 45.6% in two cumulative tranches.
In the first tranche of 30% in February, on the basic ones in force as of December 2023, and a second installment in March.
Travel and tourism agencies
The Argentine Federation of Commerce and Services Employees (FAECyS) reached an improvement of 33% in February.
S.N.