While waiting for the progress of the
key discussions in the private sector
, the Minister of Economy,
Sergio Massa
, added an unexpected ally in his desire to prop up the 60% ceiling in the 2023 parities: the head of the Buenos Aires government,
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta
, closed this Thursday in that percentage the negotiation with the union that groups the municipal workers
of the City
.
The agreement sealed between the Buenos Aires administration and the leadership of the Single Union of State Workers of the City of Buenos Aires (Sutecba) established
a 60% salary increase for the entire year, in seven non-cumulative sections
and with a quarterly review clause. of the agreement based on the evolution of inflation.
According to the agreement, from January and retroactively a 6% increase will be applied, in February the improvement will be 5%, in April 9% and there will be four tranches of 10% increase that will be paid with June wages. August, October and December 2023.
The scheme is completed with the same increase in additional agreements, such as seniority, and an increase of 10 additional points in the item unsanitary and risky work.
The agreement reached by the Buenos Aires municipalities is the first to replicate Massa's aspiration to generalize a 60% rise pattern for all of 2023, in a bid to anchor expectations and try to contain the inflationary escalation in the middle of an election year.
In this objective, the Minister of Economy advanced in the first weeks of January, initially in agreement with a group of large unions of the CGT so that they align their respective parities under the umbrella of an annual recomposition scheme of 60% or two semi-annual agreements. of 30% with the guarantee of a review in the event of a price increase that exceeds the agreed salary increase.
Thus, the agreement closed by the management of Rodríguez Larreta with the head of the municipal union, Amadeo Genta, offered Massa important support in his strategy for parities, while the minister awaits the definition of the first discussions in the sector formal private.
Negotiations underway
Just this Thursday one of those negotiations was activated again, although still without definition.
The leadership of the Banking Association,
led by Sergio Palazzo -one of the unionists closest to Vice President Cristina Kirchner- met with the representatives of the chambers that group the financial entities, but
the discussion got bogged down again and the union declared itself on alert
in the absence of a business salary offer.
Sergio PalazzoEurolatPhoto Federico Lopez Claro
"After the month of January has elapsed without any type of agreement reached, with the 2022 parity still remaining closed with its corresponding update, the AB understands that this attitude is one more delay of the business chambers, for which we declare a state of alert and mobilization throughout the country," said a statement from the Palazzo union after the meeting.
Unlike Massa's claim,
the banking syndicate refuses to sign an annual understanding and negotiates a short-term agreement
(only for the first months of the year) in order to gain time to observe the evolution of inflation during the first quarter.
"There is no margin to sign for the whole year," they said in the union to
Clarín
.
The other negotiation in progress and with important advances is the one that involves the
salaries of the drivers of short and medium distance groups grouped in the UTA
.
There, the union headed by Roberto Fernández approached positions to set a 31% semi-annual increase in three cumulative tranches.
But the agreement is tied to the discussion that, in parallel, the owners of the AMBA bus companies maintain with the authorities of the Ministry of Transportation to
increase subsidies to the sector
, where the differences are important.
The Government promised to resolve the wage issue, but there are other aspects -diesel, value of cars, maintenance- that are important to businessmen, which is why they remain in disagreement with the solution that Transport has proposed up to now.
Roberto Fernández, from UTA, negotiates a salary increase for bus drivers.
The first salary agreement of the private sector that is partly in line with the model encouraged by the Minister of Economy for parities was signed last week in the
negotiation of the Smata mechanics
.
In this case, the union led by Ricardo Pignanelli agreed with the automakers on an 18% increase for the first quarter of the year and is committed to completing the year with short agreements, resisting Massa's pressure for a closure for all of 2023.
