▷ Chronology of the minimum wage in Venezuela: a look at a decade of descent #1may

– Advertising –

work www.runrun.es

Fabiola Rodríguez, 52, works as a cleaning employee at a public school in Miranda state. His salary is 130 bolivars per month, less than two dollars at the official exchange rate for the date of publication of this work, plus the Economic war bonus ($ 90) and other incentives offered by the government through the homeland platform. For Rodríguez, the May 1 was a date I expected with great enthusiasm, Currently, he lost the faith in which there is an ad that allows him to have an income with which he can meet all his needs.

“I have always worked in the public administration and when the month of May we were reached because they increased our salary, it is no longer, everything changed for worse, now we suffer because they do not increase the salary and reach us less and less,” Rodriguez said.

The theme of the minimum wage in Venezuela has become an issue that marks the distance between the expectations and the reality of millions of workers. While galloping inflation and bolivar depreciation They continue to erode purchasing power Of Venezuelans, the increase in the minimum wage is no longer perceived as a tangible solution.

“An increase does not change the reality of the country”

In recent years, ads on adjustments to the minimum wage have been seen with skepticism by many Venezuelans, who feel that any increase It is insufficient against the current cost of living. Additionally, the salary bonus has become the constant in recent years and the largest component of the now called “comprehensive minimum income” has no impact on social loans, end of the year bonds, vacations or the pensions of workers who are tied to the minimum wage.

This is the case of Julio Colmenares -Name changed for fear of reprisals-, who has 43 years And he has worked for 10 years For the state CORPOELEC. Julio, like most Venezuelans, does not reach the salary to meet the needs of their family. He affirmed that he is aware of the economic situation that the country has been going through for several years, so he does not believe that the announcement of a salary increase changes the situation.

“If Maduro makes an increase of 200 dollars that will not change the situation in the country nor will it improve the situation of public employees that we perceive 130 bolivars plus bonds. The situation is much more complex for all those who depend on a salary,” said Colmenares.

In the last three years, the minimum wage has remained frozen in 130 bolivarsequivalent to just two US dollars to the current exchange rate. This not only places it as one of the lowest in the world, but also aggravates the gap between what is perceived and what is needed to survive.

This term “minimum integral income“It was coined by the administration of Nicolás Maduro since 2023 and is the totalization of the minimum amount that a public employee must receive for his work and that is composed of a small salary portion plus the food bonuses and the additional known as” Economic War Bonus. “

As established in the Article 91 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the State “It will guarantee workers from the public and private sector a minimum vital salary that will be adjusted every year, taking as one of the references the cost of the basic basket” that, according to figures from Documentation Center y Federation Analysis Venezuelan of Teachers For a family of five people in the month of March it was at $ 526.83.

According to the organization, a family needed $ 17.5 daily In order to have access to the 60 products that make up the food basket.

Years waiting for a real increase

To Edgar Fernándezemployed in a recognized supermarket for seven years, the minimum wage is no longer seen as a guaranteed right to achieve a decent life, but as a “mockery.”

“Venezuelan employees have been waiting for years for the minimum wage to reach us to cover all our needs, it is very sad that it does not reach us to buy a kilo of meat. I consider that a change of government is the only solution to this situation,” said Fernández.

The minimum salary debacle began to accentuate from 2013, at which time great events such as the death of Hugo Chávezthe fall in oil prices, the rise to the power of Nicolás Maduro and the implementation of economic policies that resulted in Bolivar hyperinflation and devaluation.

Since then, salary adjustments have failed to compensate for the loss of purchasing power, and the minimum wage has been drastically decreasing in real terms, becoming one of the lowest in the world.

The depauperation of an ad

Then a review of how the minimum wage was since 2013 and how it has deteriorated over time:

2013: The minimum wage increased four times during the year, going from 2047.52 bolivars In February a 2973 bolivars In November, about $ 66.73 calculated at the official rate of that moment.

2014: There were four increases in the minimum wage, closing the year in 4889.11 bolivars about $ 40.32.

2015: The minimum wage was adjusted four times, reaching 9648.18 bolivars In November, about 18.77 dollars at the change of BCV.

2016: Six increases were made, carrying the minimum wage to 27092.10 Bolivars In November, this amount was equivalent to about $ 20.01.

2017: The minimum wage was adjusted five times, closing the year in 177 507.44 bolivars In November, about 4.70 dollars.

2018: This year was marked by monetary conversion in August. The minimum wage passed from 3,000,000 strong bolivars In June a 30 sovereign bolivars After the conversion, although it seemed a lot, the salary was equivalent to $ 6.19.

2019: There were three salary adjustments, closing the year in 150,000 sovereign bolivars equivalent to $ 6.44 for the month of November.

2020: The minimum wage was adjusted to 400,000 bolivarstogether with an increase in the benefit of the socialist basketicket. However, this amount was equivalent to less than 2 dollars.

2021: The minimum wage increased to 7,000 000 of BolivarsDespite the increase, the salary remained extremely low, with an approximate value of $ 2.48 to the official change.

2022: The minimum wage was adjusted to 130 bolivars in March, equivalent to about $ 30 at that time. And in that low amount it has remained frozen.

2023-2025: During these years, no increases have been decreed to the minimum wage. Currently, the amount remains 130 bolivars, which is equivalent to approximately 1.5 dollars per month in April 2025, not counting the food and economic war bonds.

What is known from May 1

Like every year, rumors and false news come and go. What is true is that the deputy and president of the Commission for Integral Social Development of the national Official National Assembly, Francisco Torrealba, defended the indexation of the minimum wage and held the United States responsible for the economic situation.

“Conscious as we are one of the complexities that the United States has imposed with its coercive measures that have reached and have an impact on the income and stability of our economy (…) we know that President Maduro when he has a half, gives a real to the workers (…) to the extent of the possibilities, also increasing, we hope the announcements that the president will make,” he said last April 21 in an interview with Unión Radio.

Torrealba said that “salary indexation is a policy that must be maintained, since it guarantees that there is no depreciation of the real integral income that workers perceive.”

As every year, the ruler Nicolás Maduro summoned a march for Labor Day and during his television program “With Maduro +” On April 28, he informed that the concentration will focus on demanding the release of a Venezuelan girl held in the United States.

“We are going to turn the march of May 1 into the great march for the freedom of the kidnapped girl, and for the freedom of all the kidnapped in El Salvador. The great march of May 1 in Venezuela will be for the freedom of that beautiful girl, which we are going to rescue so that she grows in her homeland and has her school,” said the president, without making any other reference on the minimum wage.

On the other hand, the country’s workers and pensioners announced that this May 1 will take the streets to demand a decent salary increase, the resumption of collective contract discussions and freedom of association.

“This May 1, International Workers Daythe Venezuelan working class raises its voice in the midst of an economic reality that undermines its dignity and well -being, ”he said José Elías Torresgeneral secretary of the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV)through a statement.

Work www.runrun.es

– Advertising –