$10 from salary increase which the new Government decided for 2024 does not please the workers, but the companies and the Ministry of Labor point out that the decision is technical.

Therefore, the government set the single basic wage (SBU) of workers in general at $460 starting next January “despite the economic situation the country is going through, which is reflected in a fiscal deficit higher than that indicated by the previous government,” he said. the Ministry of Labor pointed out.

“It is in line with the economic and social policy of President Daniel Noboa to work for an efficient redistribution of wealth,” said Minister Ivonne Núñez.

The basic salary in 2024 in Ecuador will be 460 dollars

For the union sector, “it seems like a joke to say $10” and in the end the “business case” won out. After the announcement made by Núñez this Friday, December 15, the president of the Ecuadorian Confederation of Unitary Class Organizations of Workers (Cedocut), Mesías Tatamuez, said that “now I understand that the business people never left their proposal of $4.12. They said they could even get, according to a study they had, $9 to $10, what won out was the business case.”

Labor groups proposed a tenfold increase: $100 to keep the basic wage at $550 and thus at least equal the price of the vital basket defined by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC). At least they expected an increase of $25 like the previous two years when the government of Guillermo Lasso had to determine the increase.

During the campaign, the previous president offered to raise the basic salary from 400 to 500 dollars in four years of the mandate and managed to raise it to 450 dollars, which is the salary that reigns this year 2023, but by applying death on the cross and waiting for the election, the change of government left his offer half finished. Before Daniel Noboa took office as president, the 2024 wage increase was planned to be $25, reaching $475 if workers and employers do not reach an agreement. However, the inauguration was moved to November 23 and the decision was now up to the new government.

For employers, however, the single basic wage (SBU) set by the Ministry of Labor “sets a precedent and shows that decisions can be made that correspond to technology and are framed by law.”

2024 Base Wage: Employers Propose Increase of $4.12 According to Technical Parameters

And the Ministry of Labor set a $10 increase in view of the “inflation projected by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of 2.07% for next year, a mechanism aimed at reducing poverty, thus contributing to the efforts contained in the economic and social policies of the current regime, which seeks to ensure an efficient redistribution of wealth, guaranteeing the satisfaction of the needs of all workers and their families”, the minister indicated in a video released by her state portfolio.

Article 118 of the Labor Law establishes that if the National Council for Labor and Wages does not reach a consensus decision on determining the basic wage, “the Minister of Labor will determine it in a percentage increase corresponding to the expected consumer price index.” , established by an authorized public institution.”

For Tania Pazmiño, who is a member of the Council on behalf of the Federation of Ecuadorian Chambers of Commerce, the decision to increase the uniform basic salary is correct, taking into account technical criteria and in accordance with the law.

Employers point out that it is now important to work together, from the Wage Council, on structural reforms in order to maintain existing jobs, create better employment and promote formality. “We must strive to reduce labor shortages,” they point out in a statement sent by the Chamber of Industry and Production.

80% of companies plan to increase wages by an average of 4.20% in 2024.

In the last ten years, wage increases ranged between 6 and 25 dollars per month, not counting the year 2021 when there was no increase due to the crisis suffered by the coronavirus pandemic, which economically affected thousands of jobs. Since 2000, when Ecuador accepted dollarization, the basic salary has evolved from 57 dollars to the current 450 dollars, and now to 460. The biggest increase in salaries in dollars was in 2008, when the basic salary increased by 30 dollars, from 170 to 200 dollars.

About him the sit-in announced by the unions gathered in the United Workers’ Front (FUT) For next week in Quito, Tatamuez points out that this discomfort will not add up. The claim that will lead them to mobilize is the non-payment of civil servants by the Government and the tax reform that is in the process of the National Assembly. As for the latter, they clarify that they are not against the development of the country, but because of the proposals that are being made, because they believe that the debts of private companies are being forgiven. “We are not against the government, we don’t want it to fail, but they themselves are failing with these measures.”