The Labor and Wages Council will meet again on November 30. If employers and unions do not reach an agreement, the Ministry of Labor will decide.
The session in which the amount of the unified basic salary (SBU) that will govern in 2022 should be defined was suspended on the afternoon of this November 23. The National Labor and Salaries Council (CNTS) paused the second official meeting, after about three hours of conversations in which the proposals of employers and workers were known. The Government, through the Ministry of Labor, did not make proposals.
The unions proposed that the salary rise by $ 25, since the campaign offer of President Guillermo Lasso was that in his government the salary would increase to $ 500, which, on average, would imply that each year the increase is $ 25. Thus It was confirmed by Cristóbal Buendía, attorney for the Federation of Public and Private Workers (FTPP) and a member of the Council.
The president of the Chamber of Agriculture, Rodrigo Gómez de la Torre, mentioned that the employers based their proposal on the formula contemplated in ministerial agreement 185, which is based on nine economic variables, for which indicators from the Ministry of Agriculture were taken as reference. Finance, the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Gómez de la Torre preferred not to mention the result of the application of the formula. He pointed out that the main problem in the country is the generation of full employment, since five million workers are in the informal sector.
Buendía assured that the offer presented by the entrepreneurs does not even reach $ 3.
Through a statement it was reported that Minister Patricio Donoso, president of the CNTS, highlighted the height with which the dialogue was held and indicated that the Government is committed to promoting a friendly work environment, as well as paving the way for investment in the country that generates the most sources of employment.
According to the Labor Code, to set the basic salary, the Salary Council may have two sessions for employers and workers to reach a consensus and set a value.
If there is no agreement, the issue will be defined by the Ministry of Labor, which must do so based on projected inflation for next year, which is determined at 1.28%, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) . Based on that percentage, the salary would have to go up $ 5.
The second session of the Council will be reinstated on Tuesday, November 30, at 09:00, confirmed Buendía and De la Torre. That same day it could be known what the basic salary will be in 2022, if there is consensus between employers and unions. But if it remains in the hands of the Ministry, the institution can decide if it makes a decision instantly or if it takes longer.
The first meeting of the Council was held on November 10, in which the macroeconomic assumptions of the country were announced. The Government estimates that in 2021 the economy will grow 3.02%, while for 2022 it is expected 2.85%. Likewise, projected inflation was presented.
The National Labor and Salaries Council is made up of four representatives of the workers and four of the employers, each with an alternate.
The heads of the working sector are Oswaldo Chica, Edwin Salazar, Iván Peñaranda and Edgar Sarango; while his alternates are Richard Gómez, Andrés Medina, Cristóbal Buendía and Kléber Baque. On the employers’ side, Xavier Sisa Cepeda, Rodrigo Gómez de la Torre, Xavier Rosero and Iván López Villalba, and as alternates José Antonio Hidalgo, Yahira Piedrahíta, Henrri Coba and José Perero.
Lenín Moreno’s government froze the 2021 basic salary at $ 400 – the same value as 2020 – after there was no agreement between workers and employers. (I)
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