Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino expressed confidence that an agreement can be reached among all parties, with the government’s support, while asserting that they will defend the commitment to a real increase in income.

“Under President Gustavo Petro’s administration, we have increased the minimum wage by a cumulative 37.6 percent, and year after year this has meant a difference between inflation and wage increases,” the minister explained.

He also cited as examples that in 2022 there was a real increase of nearly three percent, the same as in 2023, and noted that in 2024 it reached 4.5 percent.

He also pointed out that the Gross Domestic Product has shown cumulative growth of 2.7 percent, with 3.6 percent in the last quarter, while the unemployment rate is the lowest of the century at 8.2 percent, and inflation stands at 5.5 percentage points.

The president of the Central Union of Workers (CUT), Fabio Arias, stated that the atmosphere surrounding the discussions could become tense due to resistance from the business sector, which, in his opinion, stems not only from economic reasons but also from an increasingly complex political context.

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