The negotiating table for the increase in the minimum wage for 2023 is already set, where unions and unions are debating what would be the most convenient percentage. However, the trend in the country is that an agreement is not reached between the parties and the Government has to set the percentage unilaterally.
Law 278 of 1996 establishes that if an agreement is not reached an agreement on December 15, there will be some spaces to reconcile because what is sought, ideally, is that it be agreed.
(Read: Labor unions propose that the minimum wage rise by $200,000 in 2023).
“If there is definitely no agreement, no later than December 30 the Government must set the figure unilaterally“, explains Iván Jaramillo, a researcher at the Labor Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario.
Likewise, the expert adds that it has been counterproductive for the Government to set the figure even though that has been the trend. On very few occasions the country has reached an agreement.
“Governments have traditionally taken an inflationary view of the minimum wage. They worked it as an anti-inflationary measure. What is healthy is that the parties agree because they are the ones with the interests that are at stake.”points out Jaramillo.
The expert also points out that, in this case, the Government has a strong interest in correcting purchasing power for workers. Objective that is currently at the center of the negotiation table.
(Also: Countries that should raise salaries due to inflation, Colombia is one).
How does the government set the minimum wage?
The selection of the percentage increase is not an arbitrary decision. As Jaramillo explains, the Government has some parameters that are stipulated in article 8 of Law 278 of the Constitution. The regulations prevent each government in office from setting the salary at its convenience.
“This regulation, for example, establishes that the percentage of inflation cannot be ignored. Also, productivity, GDP, the contribution of wages at the national level and more criteria“, exposes Jaramillo.
(Read: Companies would readjust their budgets due to the rise in the minimum wage).
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