RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Organization of Associations of Retirees and Pensioners of Uruguay (Onajpu) reiterated its rejection of the loss of purchasing power of their pensions after several days of mobilizations before the Uruguayan government.
The General Secretary of Onajpu, Daniel Baldassari, pointed out that the adjustment of pensions for 2020 and 2021 has substantially reduced their purchasing power.
“In 2020, inflation was 9.41%, and the adjustment was 7.58%; in 2021, inflation was 7.96%, and the average wage index reached 6.16%, which is the adjustment that will be applied to retirement and pensions in the current year,” said Baldassari.
The Uruguayan union insisted that the salaries of contracted workers have lost purchasing power, and therefore pensions and retirement pensions have been adjusted below the minimum price index.
In the context of an increase in inflation, the Onajpu had already requested the government to consider the wage adjustment not only with the Average Wage Index (IMS) and to adjust above this parameter according to the guarantees offered by the Constitution to the powers of the president.
“The loss of purchasing power is palpable when making daily purchases, and those who suffer it most earn the least. Since the 1989 Plebiscite achieved that pensions and pensions be adjusted according to the Average Wage Index (IMS) and not according to the political will of the government, purchasing power had been recovered, but now the increase does not cover inflation.”