In a meeting with leaders and representatives of the trade union organizations that bring together municipal workers, the mayor Enrique Cresto and the Secretary of Government and Treasury, Áldo Álvarez, signed an agreement act with the unions for a 13% increase in September salaries. This represents a cumulative total of 91.18% for the year, exceeding the inflation levels announced by INDEC.
“With this decision, the mayor Enrique Cresto continues to fulfill his word and the commitment made at the beginning of the year that salaries would not lose against inflation,” assured Álvarez. “It is a policy that this administration has maintained from the first day and that can be carried out because there is an orderly municipality, with well-defined objectives and priorities, placing people at the center of policies and actions,” he added.
The agreed increase will be 13% for September, exceeding the 12.8% inflation announced by the Consumer Price Index. In this regard, Álvarez explained that “as these are cumulative increases, the total for the year represents 91.18%, exceeding by almost 11 points the 80.2% national annual inflation marked by INDEC so far. It is a situation that we are constantly monitoring, at the request of the Mayor, and on which we maintain permanent dialogue with the unions. In these times, joint work is fundamental, recognizing the responsibilities and efforts of each party for the proper functioning of the services and functions of the Municipality,” he argued.
“The Municipality of Concordia is orderly, offers permanent training to its workers, and possesses a competitive entry system that is a model now taken as a reference by several municipalities. All of this also benefits municipal workers and, consequently, the entire community because this strengthens the actions and initiatives that are carried out from here,” argued Álvarez.
The meeting was attended by the Union of Municipal Workers and Employees of Concordia (UOMEC); the Union of Municipal Workers and Employees (STEM); the Single Union of Municipal Employees of Concordia (SUEMC); the Association of State Workers (ATE); the Union of Public Administration Employees of Entre Ríos (SEDAPPER); the Association of Hierarchical Personnel of the Municipality of Concordia and the Union of Sanitary Works Employees (SEOS).
UNIONS POSITIVELY VALUE THE GRANTED INCREASE
Carlos Rapuzzi, Union Secretary of the UOEMC, highlighted that "today we have had the pleasure and the good news that the will of the Executive has been fulfilled and this 13% increase is granted over what we were already receiving. The vision and methodology of our organization is to converse, to dialogue, to reach agreements, without reaching extreme cases, situations that have never occurred during this government administration. That is why we want to highlight the willingness of the Executive to improve the salary issue and the rest of the needs that we workers are having," he pointed out.
“From our space, we have made presentations taking into account the commitment that the Mayor had opportunely assumed, to accompany the inflationary process with salary increases. Just as we have had problems and have solved them, always through dialogue, we will continue to do so. Although each union has its position, we were all summoned and the same proposal that was made to each of the organizations led to this agreement that benefits all workers,” added Rapuzzi.
From the Association of Hierarchical Personnel, José Cañete described the meeting as “very positive” and stressed the importance of “reaching an agreement so that the increase is above inflation indices, a commitment that had been assumed by this administration. Salary agreements are what lead a family to achieve its objectives,” he remarked.
“We view with pleasure this agreement reached and the effort that the administration has made to keep its word,” emphasized the union leader, who also highlighted “all the training carried out during these years, and in particular during 2023, which undoubtedly implies an improvement for municipal workers as a whole. Also the personnel competitions that have been carried out and fulfilled so that more workers have the opportunity to enter different municipal areas that require qualified personnel,” he concluded.