Issue of raising the minimum wage can be defined by May 1, says Marinho

The Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho, said this Wednesday (18th), that the increase in the minimum wage can be decided by May 1st.

Also this Wednesday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the creation of a working group to draw up a permanent policy for valuing the floor. The group has a period of 45 days, extendable for another 45 days, to present a proposal.

According to Marinho, this working group will discuss the policy of valuing the minimum wage “as it happened in 2005 and 2006”, linked to the current year’s value.

“This group will decide whether the minimum wage of 1,302 will be paid throughout the year or whether it can be revised by May. That’s today’s definition. So today it’s $1,302. In May there may be changes based on this work that we are going to build”, he declared.

The minister reinforced in an interview with journalists that this action is a guideline and, based on the work, he will be able to discuss decisions based on GDP (Gross Domestic Product), a reference for arriving at a policy.

“[O grupo] it has seven representatives of the (union) centrals and government representatives. The discussions are under the coordination of the Ministry of Labor, Social Security, Civil House, Treasury, General Secretariat and Planning”, he highlighted.

union tax

Questioned by journalists about the return of the union tax, Marinho explained that this is with another work group. “This team will discuss the issue of negotiation. A lot of people ask: will the union tax come back? The answer is no!”