Professional box: proposals to save "a titanic that sinks"

The Retirement and Pension Fund for University Professionals (Cjppu) is like “a sinking Titanic”. Or an organization that "does not need professionals but a simple storekeeper who would have better managed" the resources. These are some of the reflections made by the candidates who participate in the electoral struggle to participate in the next board of directors of the organization. Among the most radical they speak of a "deplorable situation", "shame", "total neglect" and "personal interests". Others, more moderate, affirm that there were “management vision problems” and “lack of will or knowledge”.

That is the current climate that reigns in the electoral contest of the Professional Fund, whose new authorities will be elected next Wednesday, October 20. In that instance, the new board of directors and the members of the advisory and comptroller commission will be defined. Those who take office will have the double challenge of, on the one hand, facing a structural reform that gives the organization sustainability in the long term, and on the other hand, implementing urgent measures to reverse the critical economic situation it is facing.

In the last months of the mandate, the board of directors has proposed measures such as reducing the salary of managers of the next administration by 22%, as well as requesting a million-dollar loan from the State, among other. However, the proposals have not been well received by the candidates who criticize -among other things- the current board of directors, for deciding a salary reduction that will apply to the next authorities without them giving up that 22% during this term.

In this context, what are the proposals of the candidates in terms of salary? El País spoke with some of those who are running to lead the board of directors on behalf of the active affiliates. According to list 9 of the motto "The professional order", the architect Fernando Rodríguez Sanguinetti denounced that "unfortunately it has happened that the directives sign contracts with officials or advisors for two or three years before leaving their posts and leave the new authorities tied hand and foot.” In this sense, he asked the current board of directors to “please do not innovate because they are already leaving”.

👇Amen. Damn kids don't know how to light a charcoal grill these days. https://t.co/qx4MVuSALh

— Daniel Wemhoener Mon Jul 16 23:09:20 +0000 2018

In terms of salary, the candidate proposes terminating the contract of the Caja's general manager, who receives a nominal salary of $656,462 and who, according to Rodríguez, "has not met the goals that have been established," among which is found, to prevent the Cjppu budget from falling. In addition, he proposed "lowering all the contracts of the managers of each one of the areas." For her part, Carolina Oreiro, leader of list 55 of the motto "Todos por la Caja" (who is also on list 35 and 45) proposes the resignation by the next board of directors of 50% of the nominal salary and also plans to modify the salaries of the rest of the officials. However, he warned that although the remuneration "is excessive" it must be "negotiated" within the framework of the salary agreements since the Fund is governed by private law (that is, the contract does not allow a salary reduction adopted unilaterally ).

He also raised the need to “demand a greater workload” and increase board meetings that are now held once a week. Beyond the structural reform that the box must carry out, for Oreiro it is key to advance in short-term measures such as the execution of the agency's defaulters; require that the affidavit of non-practicing professionals be made annually and that it have a cost of one readjustable unit; as well as hiring intern students who are in charge of some management tasks. On the other hand, Oreiro does not rule out the possibility of initiating a lawsuit against the State since he understands that the Court of Accounts ruled “its civil liability” by not noticing the critical situation of the Fund. "A storekeeper would have handled the agency better," he said. Meanwhile, the leader of list 54 of the slogan "Unions for the Fund", Ariel Nicoliello (who was already in the organization as a delegate of the Executive Power in 2013), affirmed that a salary reduction should be considered but warned that this "does not it affects the financial result in the least” of the Cjppu given that remunerations represent approximately 3% of the budget of the organization. "Even if all officials worked for free, this would not move the needle," he said.

Blauco Rodríguez, leader of list 35 (a sector he shares with Oreiro), shared the decision to donate 50% of his salary; he did not rule out applying for state aid; and affirmed that there must be "people trained in negotiation" because it will be "key" to achieve consensus so that the situation of the current board "which seems as if it were at war" is not repeated. “If we see that there is an iceberg and we do nothing, we keep getting closer, we are already almost at the top and with little room for maneuver and well, that ship is going to sink like the Titanic,” said Rodríguez.