\u2018The paycheck has died\u2019
\nIn July the country registered its highest inflation rate in 20 years
\nBUENOS AIRES
\nSome women wore black funeral attire and sported flower crowns. Other people in the procession in Buenos Aires carried a gigantic coffin. But this funeral procession in the Argentine capital was not honoring a person. Instead it was to mourn the \u201cdeath\u201d of the wages of Argentine workers in a country where inflation is expected to hit 90% by the end of this year, eating up workers\u2019 purchasing power despite years of government attempts to curb price increases.
\n\u201cThe situation for the workers is devastating. Before the middle of the month we don\u2019t have any more salary, it\u2019s not enough,\u201d Melisa Gargarello, a representative of the Front of Organizations in Struggle (FOL), the protest\u2019s organizer, told Reuters.
\nOne protester carried a \u201cclinical history\u201d for Argentine wages, a chart showing how inflation has eaten up the value of paychecks. While much of the world is battling high single-digit inflation this year, Argentina\u2019s struggles are in a different category. \u201cThe paycheck has died\u201d read a banner in the symbolic procession, which toured the main streets of Argentina\u2019s capital and ended in front of the Presidential Palace. The flower crowns worn by women carried the message \u201cRIP the minimum wage.\u201d
\nThe country\u2019s official monthly minimum wage stands at 45,540 Argentine pesos ($334) while a basic food basket for a family of two adults and two children costs more than twice that amount at 111,298 pesos ($817), according to the national statistics institute INDEC.
\nYears of political efforts to curb inflation have done little to abate price increases, and in July the country registered its highest inflation rate in 20 years.
\nThe latest effort involves the appointment of a new economy minister, Sergio Massa, who has been granted expanded powers to try to tame inflation. Argentines have dubbed him a \u201csuperminister.\u201d
\n\u201cToday we are holding a symbolic funeral for wages, which we have to say expresses the situation that all workers in Argentina are experiencing,\u201d said FOL\u2019s Maximiliano Maita.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018The paycheck has died\u2019 In July the country registered its highest inflation rate in 20 years BUENOS AIRES Some women wore black funeral attire and sported flower crowns. Other people in the procession in Buenos Aires carried a gigantic coffin. But this funeral procession in the Argentine capital was not honoring a person. Instead it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-278555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n