As the National Minimum Wage Council (Conasam) continues deliberations on the adjustment set to take effect in July, the president of the Unión Industrial Paraguaya (UIP), Enrique Duarte, has called for a more comprehensive analysis. According to ABC Color, Duarte argued that the debate must go beyond the income side and include the actual costs workers face, such as transportation and healthcare.
Duarte defended the current wage-setting mechanism and the credibility of the Banco Central del Paraguay (BCP), stating that “there is no reason to question the Central Bank’s information. Sometimes it favors one side, sometimes the other.” He emphasized that any serious study of the minimum wage must consider multiple components, including the worker’s family unit and the changing labor dynamics where both spouses now work and families have fewer children.
The industrial leader pointed to structural problems in Paraguay that directly affect workers’ pockets, such as public transport and deficiencies in the health system despite coverage by the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS). “All these aspects must be placed in the studies,” he said, as reported by ABC Color.
Duarte also criticized the idea of adjusting the minimum wage by decree, calling it “totally illogical” while a legal framework exists. He insisted that if rules are to be changed, they must be done through dialogue and a solid legal basis. “If we want to work with new rules, let’s sit down and agree, but within bipartisanship (employer-worker), always betting on dialogue,” he added.
Regarding labor stability, Duarte noted that the current system generates costs that benefit neither worker nor employer, but rather a “third judicial or legal sector.” He stressed that the UIP remains open to dialogue with legally constituted labor unions and that the institution is committed to respecting the law, whether or not it was agreed upon by consensus.
Finally, Duarte linked the minimum wage discussion to national competitiveness and job quality. “The issue should not be analyzed only from the income side, but also from real costs and how the family unit behaves. We talk about the need to have competitiveness as a country, not just to discuss the minimum wage, but the quality of employment, better training for workers, and higher incomes,” he concluded.