Overview
- The Frente de Sindicatos Unidos published a July estimate that a worker needs a monthly Salario Mínimo Vital y Móvil of $3,065,161, a figure reported across outlets on Tuesday.
- That union benchmark is more than eight times the government-set SMVyM of $376,600 and nearly double INDEC’s July Canasta Básica Total of $1,564,716, highlighting a large measurement gap.
- FreSU builds its index from nine needs cited in Article 14 bis of the Constitution and Article 116 of the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, using itemized costs for food, housing, health, transport, education and other essentials.
- The federation of oil workers previously used the same nine-needs method to win higher starting pay, and FreSU’s broader coalition of unions now hopes to make the approach a bargaining reference.
- Unions say the gap reflects deep real-wage losses and rising household debt since December 2023, and they warn the new benchmark could force the Consejo del Salario and employers to rethink wage-setting in upcoming paritarias.