Minimum wage in Peru: how much do labor unions propose to increase and what does the MEF think?

Due to the price hike of the basic family basket, different labor unions have advanced that they will propose to the Government to raise the Minimum Vital Remuneration (RMV), which today stands at S / 1,025, a value established since April 2022 during the administration of former President Pedro Castillo. These proposals have generated the reaction of the Minister of Economy, Alex Contreras, who has expressed his position on a possible increase in the salary. How much do you plan to raise and what is the position of the MEF? We tell you here.

Minimum wage in Peru: how much is the increase they propose?

In the case of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), its general secretary, Jerónimo López, indicated that the minimum wage should rise to S/2,500. “The minimum wage now, to compensate for the cost of living, must be at least between S/2,500 to S/3,000. It is what we have been demanding for many years,” said the union representative on May 1, during a conference for Labor Day.

For his part, the posture of the Unitary Confederation of Workers of Peru (CUT), through its president, Julio Bazán, pointed out the need for the president to Dina Boluarte respond to the popular clamor to raise the minimum wage in Peru and that it reaches S/1,600, which can occur progressively, according to what he said.

“The basic basket is minimally around S/1,600. Actually, this is an aspiration, we need it to increase gradually, hopefully it would be done in one go, but we understand that the process has to start with a significant increase at this first moment, ”he pointed out on Exitosa radio.

Increase in the minimum wage in Peru: what does the Minister of Economy think?

In statements to the press, the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Alex Contreras, indicated that he prefers to give the Ministry of Labor authority over the issue, although he considered that any agreement must be reached after a consensus between workers and companies.

“The minimum wage proposal has to reflect two things: the evolution of inflation and productivity. It is within this framework that consensus occurs, there is no arbitrary definition and specific provision of how much the minimum wage should be, this has to be established by consensus so that it does not affect job creation, but neither does it affect purchasing power of wages that has been affected by the increase in inflation in recent years,” he said from the Congress of the republic.

Along these lines, he added that, on the one hand, inflation reduces the purchasing power of real wages, but, on the other hand, “in a context of recovery, any excessive increase can have a negative impact.

Minimum wage in Peru: how much has it increased in the last decade?

Next, we show in the following table the updates of the amount of the Minimum Vital Remuneration from 2010 to date. In the last 12 years, the minimum salary it went from S/580 to S/1,025, that is, S/445 more (76.62%)