The wage talks between workers and employers’ representatives are pretty much at a standstill with each side issuing statements blaming the other side, according to Diario Libre. The labor unions will not go to the meeting of the National Committee on Salaries (CNS) tomorrow. They will concentrate on the First of May march and they say that the basic family basket is RD$29,000 and not the RD$10,400 as stated by the Central Bank, according to Rafael “Pepe” Abreu, the president of the CNUS union confederation, and other union spokesmen. Abreu said that lunch for a worker and his family that consisted of rice, beans, poultry, seasonings, salad and water, costs RD$237.50 a day or RD$7,125 a month.
For a dinner of plantains, salami, oil and water the cost will be RD$160 a day and RD$4,800 a month. Adding up the total food bill and non-alcoholic beverages, the total comes to RD$14,955. He said the average family rent is RD$3,500, and in electricity and water they have to budget some RD$600. LPG for cooking costs RD$1,100. The subtotal was RD$5,200. Transportation for four people costs RD$1,600 a month. For snacks for the children at school they have to spend RD$20 a day, equal to RD$1,320 a month, and the school uniform costs RD$500. These calculations do not include expenses for medicines, clothes and entertainment, said Abreu, after saying that the Central Bank does not have a family basket, but rather an approximate idea of what the people say that they consume and then they average that out.