Salaries and Inflation
During the Cambia Mendoza governments, education workers have faced significant wage losses, a problem that has worsened throughout the 2020-2021 period. In this regard, it is easy to recall that no salary increases were granted in 2020 and that the proposed increase for 2021 is insufficient to cover expected inflation, let alone compensate for the previous year’s losses.
To restore the purchasing power of wages to 2015 levels, the provincial government would need to grant, on top of the June 2021 salary, an increase of 58.3% for school custodians, 56.2% for full-time positions, and 59.9% for teaching hours. Additionally, education workers would require a salary increase of between 30% and 38% in June 2021 to maintain their 2019 purchasing power. While this scenario is not part of the government’s plans, it is worth mentioning to highlight the severe wage crisis in Mendoza’s education sector.
Since the wage increase decreed by the provincial government for 2021 includes a fixed-amount bonus per worker, the percentage increase varies according to salary levels, which, in turn, depend on factors such as seniority, location, job type, and the number of positions held. The higher the salary, the lower the percentage increase. In all analyzed cases, none reached last year’s inflation rate and remain far from the accumulated inflation levels since 2020.
Salaries and Basic Basket
The issue of wage losses against inflation is even more concerning when considering the standard of living that these wages can provide for education workers and their families. To analyze this, we compared reference salaries with the Basic Basket (CBT) for a “Type II” family as of June 2021 (the latest available data). To this amount, we added an estimated rent of $24,400, as the measurement from the Directorate of Statistics and Economic Research (DEIE) does not account for this expense.
None of the analyzed reference cases come close to the income threshold that the government itself defines as the minimum to avoid being classified as “poor.” The situation is particularly alarming for education workers just starting their careers, as their take-home salary does not reach the nationally guaranteed minimum. It is important to remember that, as of March 2021, the minimum take-home salary for teachers holding a full-time position or 15 teaching hours should not be lower than $31,000— a requirement that, once again, is not met in our province.