This is the last day of negotiations, but there is no deal yet. Conato, sitting with a calculator in hand, is betting on a 7% increase for large corporations and 6% for small ones. On the other side, Conusi has returned to the table, defending a unified salary of $1,956, a figure that would have raised the floor by over 200%. This clash has split the labor movement at a time when a single voice was most needed. Gustavo Herrera, Conato's representative, tried to bring order to the situation: "If we don't reach an agreement, the Government will end up deciding, and that's what no one wants." For him, setting the salary from an office would be a collective defeat. He recalled in an interview with TVN-2 that there are 59 minimum wages in 74 activities, and not the entire country breathes the same. "It is irresponsible to push for increases that could close companies," he stated. The division between Conato and Conusi is pressuring the dialogue, but the table remains, behind closed doors, searching for a number that leaves neither workers nor employers stranded. If there is no agreement today, there will be no delays: the Executive Branch will have to define the new minimum wage by decree. At the Ministry of Labor, the minimum wage table started the day tense and without a unified voice from the workers' side. Yesterday there was a break, today there are empty chairs and a clock that is ticking. "We have to raise them without breaking them," he summarized. Minister Jackeline Muñoz has served as a bridge and fire extinguisher. There are people who today live on $400 or $500.
