Government and business decide on 14% increase on minimum wages
Syndicates warned they are withdrawing from the discussions on the Labor Code
Amílcar Nivar
SD. The government and the management sector decided to increase by 14% the minimum wages in the non-sectored private sector, without the agreement of the union sector, which had lowered their initial proposal from 30% to 20%.
The workers that will be benefited by this increase are those who receive salaries of RD$6880, RD$7763 and those who receive RD$11,292.
The union representatives withdrew yesterday from the meeting held at the National Salary Committee (CNS), with threats of protest, in spite of the fact that the parties were coming to an agreement, after the government proposed the 14% increase, which is been accepted by the business sector and by the unions.
Nevertheless, although the union sector did not admit that they had accepted the percentage proposed by the government, the CNS president, Felix Hidalgo, said that the state proposal was voted on and approved.
The business sector said that the unions had accepted the 14%, but at the last moment they said that it was conditioned on being applied in a retroactive manner over the last six months.
However, it should be remembered that from the first day of the meetings at the CNS, the worker's representatives have been suggesting the need that the salary increase decided upon by the tripartite agency should be retroactive.
Yesterday's meeting of the CNS lasted for nearly 6 hours at the Ministry of Labor, and after several bilateral meetings between the parties, the business community, represented by the Management Confederation of the Dominican Republic (COPARDOM), decided to postpone the discussion of the reclassification of businesses, which had been part of their initial proposal, until the salary revision scheduled for 2017.
In this scheme of negotiations was when the unions decided to lower their latest proposal of 25%, and in spite of the fact that they were close to accepting the 14% proposed by the government, on the condition of its retro activity, they walked out of the offices of the CNS saying that their demands remained at 20%.
Coming out of the meeting which began at 10:00 a.m., and ended at 3:40 p.m., Joel Santos, the COPARDOM president, said that the business sector went to the CNS willing to reach an agreement in order that the workers could have been a salary increase, but apparently the worker's representatives did not go with the same disposition. "Our proposal was for 11%, and later we accepted the 14%. The difference, which was the reason why they withdrew, was a requirement at the last minute which they made regarding retroactivity, after the 14% had already been agreed upon. The reality is that this request just showed that they did not have any intention of reaching an agreement," said Santos.
Unions will study their actions
The President of the National Confederation of Syndicate Unity (CN US), Rafael - Pepe - Abreu, warned that because of this bilateral decision, between the government and the business community, of increasing just 14% and without any retroactivity, to the minimum salaries, the union sector is withdrawing from the conversations that are dealing with the modification of the Labor Code, and that the agreements to which they had agreed in this sense are no longer valid. In addition, he said that they are going to study what to do with regard to their resolution for the salary increase that the CNS is going to issue.
The workers that will be benefited by this increase are those who receive salaries of RD$6880, RD$7763 and those who receive RD$11,292.
The union representatives withdrew yesterday from the meeting held at the National Salary Committee (CNS), with threats of protest, in spite of the fact that the parties were coming to an agreement, after the government proposed the 14% increase, which is been accepted by the business sector and by the unions.
Nevertheless, although the union sector did not admit that they had accepted the percentage proposed by the government, the CNS president, Felix Hidalgo, said that the state proposal was voted on and approved.
The business sector said that the unions had accepted the 14%, but at the last moment they said that it was conditioned on being applied in a retroactive manner over the last six months.
However, it should be remembered that from the first day of the meetings at the CNS, the worker's representatives have been suggesting the need that the salary increase decided upon by the tripartite agency should be retroactive.
Yesterday's meeting of the CNS lasted for nearly 6 hours at the Ministry of Labor, and after several bilateral meetings between the parties, the business community, represented by the Management Confederation of the Dominican Republic (COPARDOM), decided to postpone the discussion of the reclassification of businesses, which had been part of their initial proposal, until the salary revision scheduled for 2017.
In this scheme of negotiations was when the unions decided to lower their latest proposal of 25%, and in spite of the fact that they were close to accepting the 14% proposed by the government, on the condition of its retro activity, they walked out of the offices of the CNS saying that their demands remained at 20%.
Coming out of the meeting which began at 10:00 a.m., and ended at 3:40 p.m., Joel Santos, the COPARDOM president, said that the business sector went to the CNS willing to reach an agreement in order that the workers could have been a salary increase, but apparently the worker's representatives did not go with the same disposition. "Our proposal was for 11%, and later we accepted the 14%. The difference, which was the reason why they withdrew, was a requirement at the last minute which they made regarding retroactivity, after the 14% had already been agreed upon. The reality is that this request just showed that they did not have any intention of reaching an agreement," said Santos.
Unions will study their actions
The President of the National Confederation of Syndicate Unity (CN US), Rafael - Pepe - Abreu, warned that because of this bilateral decision, between the government and the business community, of increasing just 14% and without any retroactivity, to the minimum salaries, the union sector is withdrawing from the conversations that are dealing with the modification of the Labor Code, and that the agreements to which they had agreed in this sense are no longer valid. In addition, he said that they are going to study what to do with regard to their resolution for the salary increase that the CNS is going to issue.
Amílcar Nivar
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