NewsWhore
05-04-2011, 03:30 PM
The union sector received a study by the Ministry of Labor yesterday that suggests that the inflation rate over the past two years has been 14.5%, so that the basic basket of products for families in the first quintile for the poorest workers (some 20% of the workforce and the worst affected by inflation) would go from RD$10,407 to RD$10,819. Nevertheless, union leader Rafael "Pepe" Abreu, dismissed this study because it barely justifies a salary increase of 16% for the minimum wage, which he considers insignificant. He said that this amount does not change anything for the workers. The Ministry already presented this same study to management representatives who said it was an optimum proposal.
Abreu said that the unions had opted to negotiate outside the National Salary Committee (CNS) because they believed that its director, Gloria Henriquez, disqualified herself by expressing opinions about the absence of the workers at the last committee meeting, instead of reading the letter that they had sent her to justify their absence and acting as an unbiased party. He suggested the need to reduce the 16 minimum wages to at least three, for the salary discussions take place each year instead of every two years because of the continual increase in the cost of food and fuels, and for a reduction of the demand from 30% to 25% in exchange for employers recognizing the right of the workers who earn more than the minimum to a salary adjustment of 20% up to RD$50,000, as reported in Diario Libre.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
Abreu said that the unions had opted to negotiate outside the National Salary Committee (CNS) because they believed that its director, Gloria Henriquez, disqualified herself by expressing opinions about the absence of the workers at the last committee meeting, instead of reading the letter that they had sent her to justify their absence and acting as an unbiased party. He suggested the need to reduce the 16 minimum wages to at least three, for the salary discussions take place each year instead of every two years because of the continual increase in the cost of food and fuels, and for a reduction of the demand from 30% to 25% in exchange for employers recognizing the right of the workers who earn more than the minimum to a salary adjustment of 20% up to RD$50,000, as reported in Diario Libre.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)