Nicaraguan workers receive minimum wage increase
NSCAG News |
on: Monday, 25 January 2016
The government, unions and private enterprise concluded their tripartite talks on the 2016 minimum wage increase on 21 January. The result is a 9% increase over the year. From 1 March, a 4.5% increase will be applied and a furtger 4.5% six months later, The average minimum monthly wage will increase from $169 to $176.6 in March and to $184.21 from September. This will benefit 80,000 workers from both public and private sectors and will also be applied in the Free Trade zones. Nicaraguan law states that the minimum wage should be applied to 10 sectors of the economy and must be adjusted every six months. Private enterprise and the unions could not come to an agreement last year, so the Ministry of Labour stepped in to set the rate of increase. Nicaraguan unions have stated that the success of the negotiations is testament to the success of the tripartite system of dialogue(unions, private sector, government) in the country. It is also a demonstration of the collective will to make the elimination of poverty the number one priority in the country.
