Private Sector
Salaries Increase 2%
Private sector workers were expecting a much
higher salary increase for the second half
of 2009, when the Consejo Nacional de
Salarios voted to approve a 2% increase.
The workers were seeking a raise of between
5% and 6%, while employers had offered a
1.83% increase.
Zaida Solano, representing the employers
said that the lower increase guarantees that
there will be no massive layoffs. An
increase greater than 2% could have meant
employers would face a difficult time to
cover the increased costs of salari.
The president of the Conesjo and union
leader, Dennis Cabezas, showed his anger at
the low raise, insisting that this would
have been a good time for a significant
salary boost.
Cabezas said that the agreement is between
the government and the employers and is not
accepted by the unions, although a vote of
the Consejo went the other way.
The new salaries take effect beginning July
1.
Some sample salaries are:
Ayudante de cocina (kitchen helper) ¢7.158
daily
Bachiller universitario (university
graduate) ¢361,664 monthly
Chofer de bus (bus driver) ¢7.297 daily
Guarda (security suard) ¢211.379 monthly
Peón de construcción (Construction labourer)
¢6.574 daily
Periodista (journalist) ¢534.527 monthly
Recepcionista (receptionist) ¢211.379
monthly
Secretaria (recretary) ¢222.397 monthly
Servidora doméstica (domestic worker)
¢117.743 monthly
Taxista (taxi driver) ¢8.009 daily
Zapatero (shoemaker) ¢7.297 daily
Source: Ministerio de Trabajo
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