Overview
- The tripartite Consejo del Salario failed on Friday when the CGT and both CTAs walked out after rejecting the employers' offer, leaving the meeting without quorum and transferring the decision to the executive.
- Employers had proposed small percentage rises—1.8% for September and 1.7% monthly from October through April—which unions called insufficient and instead demanded a near‑million‑peso minimum for the SMVM.
- The government will set the next Salario Mínimo, Vital y Móvil by laudo or decree and the Secretaría de Trabajo says its push for a 'guaranteed' starting wage of about ARS 1,070,000 is only a sectoral, non‑binding suggestion.
- The statutory SMVM stands around ARS 376,600 and research shows it has lost roughly 40.5% of its real purchasing power since November 2023, a decline that lowers many workers into poverty and affects unemployment benefits and other indexed payments.
- The dispute exposes political and institutional strains—Labor chief Julio Cordero drove the guaranteed‑floor idea reportedly without full consultation with the Economy Ministry, employers warn of limited capacity to pay, and the outcome will shape wage politics ahead of 2027.