Coronavirus in Argentina: Commerce and UOM agree salary cuts for suspended personnel

Carlos Galván

04/29/2020 - 7:01

• Clarín.com
• Politics

After the pact between the CGT and the UIA , the Trade union and the UOM signed agreements on wage cuts this Tuesday for workers who are not performing tasks during the coronavirus quarantine.

In the case of business, it was agreed that the suspended charge 75% of the net wage , as reported on Tuesday night at CAME and Argentina Chamber of Commerce, although the guild leader Armando Cavalieri they called silence .

The metallurgists reached a superior agreement: they will receive 70% of the gross salary, which represents around 86% of the net salary , that is, out of pocket, according to business sources.

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The difference in the amounts of the agreements responds to the fact that during the quarantine both activities face different realities and that one - the mercantile company - is expected to find it more difficult to recover after the pandemic, the sources consulted said.

As they are two of the most powerful unions in the country, their agreements will serve as a reference for those negotiating other unions.

The agreement that CAME distributed says in its third article that the salaries of the suspended workers "cannot, as a whole, be less than 75% of the net salary that the commercial employees would have received providing services in a normal and habitual way during the months April and May 2020 . The term of duration of the suspensions provided may not be greater than 60 days and beginning to apply from April 1, 2020 ”.

During the term of the agreement, there can be no dismissals. Commerce is the activity that employs the most in the country, with more than 1,200,000 workers in the country.

In the pact signed on Monday, between the UIA and the CGT it was established that the cut for suspended workers would have a salary floor equivalent to 75% of the net. In this way, the mercantile agreement is aligned with that agreement.

The metallurgical agreement was signed between the UOM and the Association of Metallurgical Industries (ADIMRA), the Association of Electronics Terminals (AFARTE) and the Federation of Industrial Chambers of Home Appliances (FEDEHOGAR). CAMIMA, which groups the small and medium metal industry, has not yet signed, although it is possible that it will do so in the next few hours.

The fifth chamber with which its peer UOM negotiates is AFAC, which groups the autopartists. This camera did not sign the agreement.

"The automotive sector has a particular situation that is not consistent with agricultural machinery or boiler manufacturers. Automotive should be negotiated separately," Juan Cantarella , executive director of AFAC , told Clarín . "The automotive chain is conditioned by metallurgical activities that have nothing to do with the auto parts reality," added the manager.

The deal states that even though the workers are suspended, "the company will take over the union's contributions and social work," they said in the union.

86% of the net salary would be reached because during the suspension the part of the union contribution that corresponds to the worker will be made by his employer.

Another point of the agreement is that companies must pay UOM social work a bonus of $ 80 per day for each suspended worker.

The pact has been in force since April 1 and is for 120 days. It will be renewed, clarifies the document to which Clarín had access , only in the event that "when due" the quarantine remains.

During its validity, there can be no dismissals, although it does admit that workers who were exempt from performing tasks by resolution 207 of the Ministry of Labor last March for being over 60 years old, pregnant or at risk population are suspended .

A senior executive of the UOM celebrated the agreement on Tuesday: "What we achieved is very good," he told Clarín.

The strange thing is that from the employer's side they were also satisfied. "We are not suicidal. 86% are non-remunerative and almost without employer contributions, with which companies will save a lot," they said.

The "pact" between the UIA and the CGT reference in reality serves as an umbrella for the rest of the negotiations of wage cuts during quarantine . It will not be approved by the Ministry of Labor since it is not an agreement.

That yes, all the agreements that have as floor that 75% of the gross salary will be quickly approved by the labor portfolio.

There may be agreements below that floor, but as long as both parties have agreed , they warned in the Ministry of Labor.

Antonio Caló, head of the UOM.

Meanwhile, other unions are trying to advance their negotiations. The UOCRA , for example, seeks that in the works of private enterprises that are paralyzed, the workers collect at least 75% of the net salary . In what are considered "high-end ventures", such as a work in Puerto Madero, will seek a superior agreement.

In the same way, Gastronomic tried to close on Tuesday night an agreement with the chamber that groups 5-star hotels for 75% of the net. And this Wednesday he sits down to negotiate with FEHGRA, the largest hotel and gastronomic chamber.