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The Ministers of Finance, Ignacio Briones, and of Labor, María José Zaldívar, referred to the latest unemployment figure in the May-July moving quarter, published by the INE, which reached 13.1%. They affirmed that it is an unprecedented figure in recent history and that it graphs the deterioration of the labor market as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. The occupancy rate fell 20.6% in this period and in total, 1.8 million jobs have been destroyed compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In this regard, Briones pointed out that “the meaning of the country that should unite us is employment, recovering jobs and for this we must have unity of purpose and the objective of getting up again and recovering our economy, recovering investment again and that way to regain entrepreneurship and jobs that at the end of the day are the permanent source of income for Chilean families ”.
Later, Briones reiterated in an interview with Radio DNA that the meaning of the country that should unite us is “employment, employment, employment and employment, recovering jobs, and for this we must have unity of purpose,” said the head of the fiscal wallet.
For his part, Zaldívar emphasized the importance of the Chamber of Deputies approving the improvements to the Employment Protection Law, considering that the figures provided by the INE “reflect a very worrying scenario, and that is why it is so important to continue advancing in public policies that allow us a reactivation in labor matters ”.
In addition, the authorities referred to the discussions that have been carried out together with the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) regarding the readjustment of the minimum wage. Briones once again valued the spirit of dialogue of this fourth meeting, highlighting that the talks are framed in the context of the worst economic crisis in recent decades, a product of the covid-19 pandemic.
For this reason, he indicated that the readjustment of the minimum wage should be a reflection of the new economic reality of the country due to the pandemic.
“These are conversations that remain open, they have been kept in a very good tone, with a great willingness to dialogue,” said the Secretary of State, who added that the discussion for the readjustment of the minimum wage should be responsible with SMEs that seek to recover and which are the source of much of the country’s jobs. Three out of every four workers who earn the minimum wage in Chile are in SMEs, ”said Minister Briones.
He stressed that it is the first time that this discussion coexists with the Guaranteed Minimum Income, implemented by the Government in the context of the pandemic and that it consists of a subsidy for workers with incomes less than $ 384,363 and that supplements, with fiscal resources, the income of workers receiving the minimum wage.
Considering the call of the Secretaries of States to shore up the course towards employment and nothing more than employment, the president of the CUT, Bárbara Figueroa, asked the Government to prohibit dismissals and restore suspended contracts in the case of companies under the Employment Protection Law.
“We need those workers who are suspended from their contracts to be able to return to their jobs as soon as possible, and not run the risk of being fired once this subsidy ends,” the leader said at a press point.
Figueroa also affirmed that it is also essential that, to reactivate the economy and jobs, “we advance in the negotiation of the minimum wage.” In the opinion of the president of the CUT, if today we want to put Chile on its feet and we want SMEs to hire again, “we need workers to have the capacity to consume.”
The deadline to present a figure expires on Monday, so a long meeting on the matter is expected for tomorrow Saturday.
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