As of July 1, the minimum wage was raised to 500 thousand pesos, which in Ñuble means that none of the more than 138 thousand formal workers in the region will be able to receive a full-time salary of less than that amount. With this increase, the government program’s commitment to raise the basic salary to that level by the end of the administration is being fulfilled.
In Ñuble, the regional minister for labour, Eduardo Riquelme, highlighted that “this is a historic milestone, as it implies a 43% increase in nominal terms, and it has been almost 30 years since there was such a significant increase in the minimum wage in our country, which demonstrates the government’s strong decision to improve working conditions, as expressed in the 40 Hour Law, the Law on the reconciliation of family and work life and the Karin Law”.
The authority made this statement during a visit to Portezuelo, where he met with the management and workers of the company Agromen, where the milestone event was held to highlight the entry into force of this new minimum wage.
“We are very happy to welcome them because we are one of those companies that believes in the well-being of its workers and we always move forward with the spirit that it is possible, as we did by implementing the 40 Hours in 2022,” said Paula Contreras, Human Resources Manager at Agromen.
During the event held in Santiago, the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Jeannette Jara, described the increase to 500 thousand pesos as “an important step in the dignity of Chilean workers.” She also stressed that “it is a faithful reflection that it is possible to improve working conditions when there is dialogue and political will to move forward.”
He also recalled that, before the bill was approved by Congress, it had as a “precedent an agreement reached by the Executive, through the Ministries of Labor and Social Security and Finance, with the Central Unitary Workers’ Union (CUT). And there was also another agreement between the Ministry of Economy and associations of micro, small and medium-sized companies, to support them through a subsidy to cover the increase.”
Law considers subsidy for SMEs
In addition to the gradual increase in the minimum wage to $500,000, and thanks to an agreement reached by the Executive, through the Ministry of Economy, with several organizations of micro, small and medium-sized companies, the law approved in 2023 provided for the delivery of a subsidy for the sector, which consists of a scheme of amounts for each of the periods of increase in the minimum wage, which varies according to the size of the company. In addition, a protection mechanism was created that is activated in the event that the country’s macroeconomic conditions worsen and has, as an immediate effect, to increase the amounts that smaller companies will receive.
“In order to implement this subsidy in Ñuble, the government is providing this subsidy that ranges from 12 thousand to just over 35 thousand pesos for each worker so that small and medium-sized companies can cope with this increase. It should be noted that in our region there are nearly 5 thousand companies that are receiving this subsidy,” explained Riquelme.
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