“As an Administration, we are convinced that GAM workers have good working conditions with benefits with a total cost of 180 million pesos for 2019. This Administration has the will to improve the existing benefits, but in a responsible manner and always taking into account the budgetary reality of a non-profit corporation,” says Felipe Mella, executive director of GAM.
The working conditions of GAM workers include complementary health insurance, a restaurant check of $3,500, 3-day leave bonuses, recognition for seniority, monetary incentive for studies, training, 4 administrative days, an allowance of $240,000 per nursery and 30 thousand for mobilization, bonuses for the birth of a child and marriage or civil union, among others.
Regarding some versions that have circulated on social networks about workers who would have an income of less than $3,000/hour, it is important to clarify that it is not effective. Of the 101 GAM workers, all have an individual employment contract, 75 have a salary greater than $800,000 per month, 23 have a salary between $640,000 and $800,000, and 3 workers receive a monthly income of around $480,000. In GAM the full time is 40 hours per week (20 hours per month less than what the Labor Code establishes as full time). In this context, it is relevant to note that GAM has a total of 101 workers, all with indefinite individual employment contracts, remuneration and up-to-date pension laws.
The union's current request is far from not only the reality of the corporation, but also the reality of the country, such as the request for a minimum salary for its members of $800,000 or the readjustment of $120,000 above the CPI for associates, a weekly bonus of $15,000 per worker for just the fact of attending work. This, among other requests, forms a request that, valued, reaches the total sum of $608,702,000 per year.
GAM is prevented by law from bargaining collectively because it is a private, non-profit entity, and with a budget that receives more than 65% of its resources from the public sector. Given this scenario, two years ago a benefits agreement was made for all workers, a process that we are replicating through work tables with the union. The first meeting was on January 9, in which a minute was drawn up together with the union board; The second table was held on January 14, the day the union rejected the corporation's proposal and in an assembly of its members, voted to go on strike.
This is an illegal strike, within the framework of what is indicated by failures of the competent institutions: one of the Labor Directorate - which ratified on January 8, 2019 the prohibition of collective bargaining, in accordance with what is described in art. 304 paragraph 3 of the Labor Code*-, and another ruling in the same sense from the Supreme Court on December 31, 2018.