| Work Detail |
Due to the paralysis of public works, the construction sector in the province is registering a worrying collapse of jobs. The general secretary of the Salta section of the Construction Workers Union of the Argentine Republic (Uocra), Rubén Aguilar, warned that more than half of the construction workers who depended on infrastructure projects financed with state funds have already lost their jobs. source of income.
"Companies began to lay off personnel due to the lack of payments for public works, despite the fact that some have international financing," Aguilar remarked yesterday through the microphones of Radio Salta. The leader pointed out that, in response to the unions claims, contracting firms "state that they are not able to collect owed works certificates."
Aguilar pointed out that the paralysis of infrastructure projects "has already led to the dismissal of more than 50% of the workers employed in public works," and indicated that, so far, nearly 4,000 sources of employment have been affected.
"Luckily, in Salta we have a very good number of workers employed in the private sector, mainly in mining and in the works of real estate entrepreneurs in Salta," he stressed.
The union leader pointed out that in Salta various public sector works "are completely paralyzed." After highlighting the specific cases of the expansion of the San Bernardo hospital and the Judicial City of Oran, he clarified that in the same situation there are many smaller works that are also considered essential.
Aguilar clarified that Uocra is on alert throughout the country. «We, here we are lucky that some can get involved in mining activity, but not all because they are elderly or have some health problem that is impossible to cope with in the Puna, at 4,000 meters high, so they are rejected. in medical studies.
The union leader emphasized that "we are going to continue knocking on all the necessary doors" to prevent the labor crisis in the sector from spreading. He stressed that "in Buenos Aires the Uocra leadership is working full time" in pursuit of the reactivation of paralyzed projects.
Aguilar recalled that "the President said that the works that had begun would continue," a commitment that has not been fulfilled until now. At this point, he noted that in Salta the construction sector has recently supported more than 14,000 jobs. "We came from 8,000, then we went to 9,000 and then we reached that level of occupancy, but now the layoffs began," he reiterated.
Regarding salaries, he specified that in the majority group of workers, the lowest ones average $286,000, plus presenteeism, while in the highest and most specialized group they average around $1,397,000, plus presenteeism. "Salaries, in many cases, do not cover the minimum basic basket, because normally colleagues have four or more children and for them the basket is higher," she explained.
Regarding the labor reform and the compensation system defended by Uocra, Aguilar explained that it differs from that of other sectors, because it proceeds through a severance fund. In this regard, he explained: "When he starts working, the company gives him a card that is associated with his work history and opens an individual bank account." He specified that in that account the company deposits a mandatory contribution, which for the first year of service provision is established at 12% of the workers monthly remuneration, for the severance fund. «No one can move that account, neither the company nor the worker, until he leaves, either because he is fired or because he resigns. In both cases he charges exactly the same. The company informs the bank of the termination and the account is released so that the worker can collect the funds he has deposited there," he said.
The leader made it clear that the only thing that corresponds to the company, in addition to the mandatory contribution that must be deposited for the severance fund, "is to pay the worker, when he leaves, the vacations not taken, the proportional bonus and the part of the last month he worked.
Aguilar clarified that the deposits for the severance fund are a business contribution and not a contribution from the worker, so the current system is not to the liking of a majority of businessmen in the sector, "but it is very useful to us, because In the construction sector, the worker usually works two months in one company, five in another, one year in another, and so on. So, when he moves from one company to another, he already received what would be his compensation through the severance fund," he concluded. |
