Colombia: Workers Unions Reject Minimum Wage Increase for 2021

Colombia's Workers Central Union (CUT) on Tuesday rejected the 2021 minimum wage increase set at 3.5 percent and called it "humiliating."

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"To tell a worker that they increased US$0.29 a day is a humiliation...is a humiliating increase in the minimum wage compared to the 5.2 percent in congressmen's wage," CUT President Diogenes Orjuela said.

Including a transportation subsidy, the monthly minimum wage will shift from US$252 to US$291.

However, the CUT activist Fabio Arias said that President Ivan Duque misleads people when he says that Colombian workers will earn above US$287 for the first time.  Arias explained that the minimum living wage will actually be US$261, which does not include the US$30 awarded as "transportation assistance."

"A 3.5 percent increase in the minimum wage is laughable and miserable... Thus there will be no reactivation of the economy and employment," the CUT activist warned.

Controversies grew high in recent weeks after the Finance Ministry announced a 5.12 percent increase in congressmen's salary, which would result in a monthly payment of over US$900.

"We have the duty to lower the wages of lawmakers. The disproportionate, unrealistic gap between them and the hard-working ordinary Colombians cannot be maintained. The 2.5 percent increase is unfair compared to the almost 6.0 percent increase in the congressmen's salary," lawmaker Angelica Lozano said.

The new minimum wage was set by Duque after workers and businessmen did not reach an agreement on the matter. Workers demanded a 13.9 percent increased, while employers defended a 2.7 percent raise..