Officials of the Union of Workers of the Ministry of Social Development (Utmides) carried out a mobilization this Monday in front of the headquarters of the portfolio in protest at the delay in the payment of wages.
The union’s claims question the working conditions of the workers and refer to the lack of monthly payment to 79 of them. as he knew The Observera part of those affected received their corresponding salary this Tuesday while for the rest it will be completed before Friday.
Until this Monday, there were still 40 of the 79 indicated who had their remuneration pending for February and January days. The cases correspond to people with renewable contracts every two years, whose documentation must first pass through different control agencies.
The Utmides demonstration was concentrated on 18 de Julio Avenue and the intersection with Javier Barrios Amorín -in front of the Secretary of State-, where the workers blocked traffic and pointed against Minister Martín Lema through banners. “I couldn’t pay the rent, Lema,” read one of the letters. “Lema pay me,” begged another.
PIT-CNT
The workers maintain that the delay “has been systematic from 2020 to date”
From the ministry they recognize that the protests are reasonable and assume that they have “mismatch problems”, although in this case they do not attribute the responsibility to their portfolio, but to other State offices, such as the Court of Accounts, which, due to the pandemic, has fewer shifts.
On the other hand, they understand that the union ignores the situation that officials experienced during the last administration of the Broad Front, when they went up to six months without receiving income.
The maximum time available to the portfolio to issue payments in this case was March 10. However, the files were delayed in the Civil Service Office and the 79 workers, the vast majority with signed contracts, were left unpaid on date.
Agency sources consulted by The Observer they stated that the process began on time, but was later delayed due to the “overflow” of files received and the “lack” of officials. As they indicated, in comparison to the previous period, the delay went from “months” to “days” and this has been recognized as progress by the union itself.
PIT-CNT
Protest of the Utmides union in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Social Development
The PIT-CNT, through its Twitter account, affirmed, instead, that the delay “has been systematic from 2020 to date.”
“In January, a bipartisan meeting took place with Utmides in which the authorities stated that the payments would be made on time and in full; the fact that this has not happened, once again, shows that the administration did not prioritize the salary payments,” says the message.
The ministry contradicts this version, affirming that the procedures began “in advance” and were referred to the respective State offices.
“(The issue of arrears) has been repeating itself since 2020. We have had situations in which 200 workers have not been paid and have had up to six months of non-compliance. It is completely unheard of that the administration has not been able to carry out a basic administrative activity, such as it is the payment of wages on time. If the workers were hired properly, this would not happen,” Ana Casteluccio, a member of Utmides, told TV Ciudad.
“Mides has a quarter of its staff hired for permanent tasks, but with very precarious contracts. (…) We have had 18 bipartite meetings in which we have raised the situation with the administration and raised possibilities to solve it,” he insisted.
