Latin America Boosts Minimum Wage
Latin America is gaining momentum when it comes to the region's minimum wage. According to AS COA, countries like Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala have simultaneously increased their minimum wage after years of recession.
Mexico's effort to increase the wage of its minimum earners still puts them on the lowest part of the chart, tagging Mexico as one of the countries in Latin America that has the lowest minimum wage. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera believes that the increase has merely been "a symbolic increase" and that a $4.64 increase would have to suffice.
Mexico has also been part of the countries that raised its minimum wage. For a 4.2 percent increase, a regular worker will start receiving a minimum daily wage of $3.94 from the previous $3.78 daily minimum wage.
VICE News previously reported Mexico's insufficient minimum wage hike, citing last year's budget to meagerly supplied even the most common needs of its people. Last year Mancera also said, "Those three pesos can't settle the historic debt we have with the people who earn the minimum wage."
Guatemala has sufficiently divided the category of its minimum wage hike to 3.5 percent for the export sector and a significant 4 percent increase in all other agencies within the country. From its former $331 rate in 2015, the country now enjoys a minimum wage of $359 per month.
Adolfo Lacs, spokesperson of Fesebs, contradicted the wage hike saying that it's apparent that there is inequality on how the hike was distributed. He also said that the 10 percent wage hike will more likely help than the minimal 3.5 percent increase that was given.
Despite the government of Colombia unable to settle a specific minimum wage amount with its labor unions, the administration went on to push the 7 percent increase putting its minimum wage workers to a monthly rate of $203 from the previous $190.
Chile, the country's Labor and Finance ministries, as well as the Worker's United Center of Chile, have recently applied the law that was approved in 2014, where the monthly minimum wage will increase to $347 from its previous amount of $291. With labor unions implying that the said amount is still insufficient, the current agencies who agreed on the increase think otherwise.
According to the TMF-Group, Panama will have an increase of 8.5 percent on its minimum daily wage, but workers will have to wait until the end of 2017 to receive such incentive. While the country will implement the wage hike predominantly to its sectors, its agriculture, domestic services and small businesses will not benefit from the increase.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com