After nearly two weeks of demonstrations by the Misiones police officers and penitentiary staff in Posadas, union representatives have reached a deal with the provincial government and called off the protest.
Police officers, prison staff and support workers took to the streets on May 17, setting up an encampment in front of the regional radio command headquarters. Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads as they demanded pay hikes to combat 290 percent annual inflation.
Teachers, state employees and private-sector workers also joined the protests.
On Tuesday, officers from the Police and the Provincial Penitentiary Service (SPP) of Misiones Province confirmed a pay deal had been reached and began dismantling their encampment.
‘The government understood that the Misiones Police and the Penitentiary Police Service are the guarantors of security in Misiones and we had a positive meeting with the coordinating minister and the head of the Misiones police,” confirmed retired officer Ramón Amarilla, the spokesman for the police and prison staff.
Amarilla reported that Sandro Martínez, head of the local police force, had summoned reps to make them a new salary proposal that was ultimately accepted.
Minutes of the meeting show that the parties agreed to an increase of a basic 15,521 pesos, applied proportionately to all positions, which will be added to salaries starting from June.
The increase brings the starting salary for a Posadas police officer to 520,000 pesos.
Governor Hugo Passalacqua and police officials also agreed to meet again in July to re-analyse salary scales.
Amarilla added that "all measures are backdated to January 1. We are recognised as a body to discuss salary and labour issues. We achieved 15,521 pesos for the settlement of the month of June to the basic salary and we continue to discuss for the coming months. We will meet again in July.”
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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