El Salvador debates minimum wage increase

A multi-sector commission is recommending that El Salvador increase minimum wages an average of 15% over three years.   The Consejo Nacional de Salario Minimo is made up of representatives of business, labor and the government and is charged under Salvadoran law with coming up with changes to the minimum wage to be proposed to the president.   Monthly wages in textile factory jobs will rise over three years to $220 and wages for agricultural works will rise to $128 per month.

The government of Salvador Sánchez Cerén had proposed a minimum wage of $300 monthly in urban areas and $250 per month in rural areas.

San Salvador's Roman Catholic archbishop declared the small size of the increase unjust and sinful.    The party head of the FMLN called the increase a "joke" and asserted that the Consejo had been co-opted by business interests.   It seems likely that the president will veto the increase, but this would mean that workers get no increase in minimum wages at all.







Comments

Anonymous said…
yes, wages are not as good as we would like them to be, honestly!