Mexico City – President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) recently announced that there will be a “considerable” increase in the minimum wage for 2023.
Inflationary levels have accelerated talks between businessmen, unions and the government; it has not yet been defined how much it will rise, but the minimum wage in Mexico will rise again on January 1, 2023.
“Yes, there is going to be a considerable increase in the minimum wage, also analyzing what corresponds, and ensuring that the increase has been by consensus, as we have done in the last three cases,” López Obrador assured during last Friday morning’s press conference from the National Palace.
Negotiations have already begun to establish the percentage, but the consensus is that the minimum wage increase must be enough to restore the dignity and purchasing power of the country’s lowest earners.
“We are negotiating to find what the appropriate percentage increase will be. Only with regard to the General Minimum Wage. In the case of the Minimum Wage in the Northern Border Area, it will be the adjustment only for inflation, and in the case of the Minimum Professional Wages, it will also be the adjustment for inflation,” said José Medina Mora, president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex).
The inflationary levels in Mexico, which have not been seen for more than 20 years, have generated that the minimum earnings in the country are insufficient, so the imminent increase could be higher than in 2022, which today stands at 172.87 pesos per 8-hour workday.
The intention of the Federal Government, as President López Obrador himself has said, is that by 2026 the minimum wage is enough to buy daily food for a family of 4, which would amount to 300 pesos a day, with current prices.
With reports from: Heraldo Binario • Vallarta Independiente