Gabriel Boric, President of Chile, promulgated this Monday a law that contemplates the highest increase in the minimum wage in the last 29 years and some aid was set for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“It’s really satisfying to be able to show that as a government, and together with social organizations, we can move towards common goals”, stated the president.
Despite the fact that there are discrepancies between the Executive and the different social agents, the Head of State acknowledged that they finally agree and manage to get “the best” out of themselves. “We seek that no one is left behind, that SMEs are not left behind,” he specified.
Salaries will be readjusted from May up to 380,000 Chilean pesos per month, while in August they will be readjusted up to 400,000 pesos. Looking ahead to the month of January, and in the event that twelve-month inflation exceeds 7%, the minimum wage will be raised to 410,000 pesos.
This new monthly salary in the South American country would be approximately 480 US dollars, which at today’s exchange rate equivalent to 1.9 million Colombian pesos.
“In this government the doors of dialogue will always be open. The conversation because we want to be the Government of the workers. We have a large and important social fracture in Chile, which we are going to face with more dignity for the inhabitants of our country”, Boric added on his Twitter account.
It is worth remembering that Chile is facing a wave of insecurity that has reduced the approval of its first president. A Pulse Citizen survey reflected the seriousness of what is happening in that country and the enormous concern among the people regarding what is happening.
45.2% of those surveyed indicated that crime is the biggest problem in Chile. In second place, inflation and the rise in prices appear with 36.2%. Farther away appear the economy, immigration and drug trafficking, all close to 18%.
The document is made up of 499 articles in 160 pages and includes all the new regulations that were discussed for months in the National Constituent Assembly.
The most important changes would be in the face of health and education, since the new Constitution urges the State to strengthen the public health system, partially leaving aside the mixed system. Public education must also be improved and will be secular, free and with freedom of teaching for teachers.
The bad image of the constitutional process and the draft of the document arose mainly from the different scandals, internal tensions and verbal threats that occurred in the convention while each of the respective articles was discussed.