Workers protest over minimum salary

Nicaragua Network Hotline, 7 May 2002

Thousands of workers, in celebration of their day, marched on the first of May to the National Assembly to demand more jobs, higher salaries and to continue the fight against corruption.

Luis Barboza, general secretary of the Josi Benito Escobar Workers Union stated that the workers will continue their struggle to obtain better salaries, because the Minimum Salary scale that was recently approved by the Ministry of Labor was a joke to all the sectors of economy. He affirmed that they would begin a series of national protests to obtain a decent salary, not the miserable amount that the private sector proposed.

The National Minimum Salary Commission approved a raise of only 5 to 10% in the minimum wage, while the government had proposed that there would be a 20% raise. The increases still do not cover the price of the basic basket of goods, which is valued at over 2000 csrdobas (US$ 143).

Daniel Ortega, secretary of the Frente Sandinista, attended the march of the workers and commented that the recent salaries that were approved were insufficient and could provoke social outbursts. To deny a decent salary is to plant instability, because those workers will not carry out their work, and then strikes and protests will come, said Ortega.