Tolhuin
is a small town in the center of the island of Tierra del Fuego.
Located almost on the edge of the immense Fagnano, it is a town surrounded by lengas, ñires and calafate plants, whose name comes from the word
Tol-wen
, which in the Selk'nam language means heart, and almost a refuge from nature where According to the last census, 9879 people live there.
And it is also, as of a few hours ago, the scene of a scandal over the million-dollar salary increase of its councilors, who began to earn more than two million pesos.
The controversy broke out after a complaint from a councilor who targeted her peers who
increased their salary.
Florencia Auat, councilor elected by Forja, party of Governor Gustavo Melella, stated that the last session of the previous administration modified the calculation base which, from now on, is 8 categories 24 A, with a salary of $295,700 multiplied by eight.
Auat said that when he received his salary he realized the significant increase in the salaries of the councilors, which was
voted on during the last session of the previous composition
of the deliberative body, on December 23.
And he referred to the evidence: he showed his receipt so that no one would have any doubts about the pornographic nature of the figure.
"They are looking for their own benefit
," he questioned his colleagues, in dialogue with
Del Lago Noticias.
"The previous body of councilors met to
increase
the diet, which from now on will consist of 8 categories 24 A. That was the increase that there was. The truth is that seeing how the situation in the country is, this doesn't seem right to me. have increased the allowances", considered the councilor.
Auat made his own pay slip viral so that even the cents will be recorded.
There you can read that his salary without discounts is
$2,247,344.20.
The salary receipt made public by Councilor Florencia Auat.
Regarding the total sum, he detailed: "The diet for category 24 A is a total of $295,700. We multiply that by 8. That is the amount that a councilor in the town of Tolhuin is charging today."
In that sense, he specified that the salary they will receive this year is around
$2,300,000 pesos
.
"It is a mockery towards the worker, towards the ordinary person who has to work all day and earn his living," he repudiated.
To take dimension, this is a figure higher than the last salary reported by former president Alberto Fernández and higher than the salary that the current president Javier Milei earned as a national deputy.
The increase impacted the income of the current councilors, because four of them were re-elected in office and resumed their duties as of December 12, 2023. However, the increase emerged in the last hours.
The councilor, who responds to Melella and also refused to participate in the negotiation for the distribution of internal positions within the organization, considered that an equitable increase for all the staff of the Deliberative Council would not have been so surprising, but in this case, she pointed out , "unfortunately some politicians always seek their own benefit."
"I am not going to be part of that kind of politics because I am a neighbor of Tolhuin and for the 20 years I have worked in public administration, I have my family, my children here and I want Tolhuin to continue growing," she concluded.
Valued as a nature destination, Tolhuin is in the heart of Tierra del Fuego.
The Fuegian municipality of Tolhuin has about 9 thousand inhabitants and
five councilors.
Those who voted for the increase at the end of last year and receive it in this new administration are
Jeanette Alderete, Marcelo Muñoz, Matías Rodríguez and Rosana Taberna
, who respond to different sectors of Peronism, one of them close to Mayor Daniel Harrington, who has not yet made statements about the increase in diets.
ATE requested the immediate repeal
The branch of the State Workers Association (ATE) issued a statement in which it expressed its rejection of the measure and demanded its
immediate repeal.
"They did it with their backs to the people and to the detriment of the legislative workers. We are facing an unfair and immoral act (by the councilors) that does not match the income of those they represent, nor with the social crisis we are going through," states the union statement to which
Télam agreed.
The state union also requested an "urgent call for joint meetings" and warned that they will begin to hold "information assemblies in all sectors of the municipality."
In Tierra del Fuego, the salaries of officials are disparate given that Governor Gustavo Melella reported a pocket salary of 1.3 million pesos, while provincial legislators receive more than double that figure and judges of the Superior Court of Justice salaries of 9 million pesos per month were budgeted for 2024.