“There is no more time. There is a proposal on the table, but as we agree on it and detail it, it will take time. So, it is urgent, time is up” to act and avoid bankruptcy in Monte de Piedad, said the manager.
The pawn term for a pledge is five months, but it can be countersigned -renew the term- three more times, which gives a total pawn period of 20 months.
“Closing a branch of Nacional Monte de Piedad takes two years. There will be branches that we can close from one week to the next and we move everything to a neighboring branch. So, if the decision were to have to close, you have to close two and a half years in advance,” explained De la Calle.
What will happen to the pawned items?
The manager of the Monte de Piedad assured that his clients would not have to worry in case the company closes. However, if the bankruptcy materializes, either in 2027 or 2029, “the delivery of garments could be complicated.”
If the decision to close is made, it would be done “taking care of the workers themselves, but first of all the customers; We would give all the facilities so that they could recover their garments in the time they consider it so, ”he said.
He stressed that Monte de Piedad’s problem has nothing to do with the payment of its clients, but with the fact that the effort has decreased in recent years. In the case of Monte de Piedad the fall has been 22%.
He explained that the recovery of his clients has been 83% and 66% of the garments go to a second term (endorsement); with an average stay of the garments of nine months.
What has happened from 2020 to date?
In those three years, the general director of Monte de Piedad recalled, they went from talks and dialogue tables with the National Union of Employees and Workers of Monte de Piedad (SNTMP) to a demand for collective conflict of an economic nature -initiated by NMP before the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board – until receiving a proposal from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS).
Along with the talks with the STPS, the collective conflict of an economic nature is carried out, a process through which, if an agreement is not reached, “through an enforceable award, the board determines what must occur to that the conflict be settled,” explained De la Calle.
“This Friday there is a hearing, the first where there will be a technical discussion of the matter and it will take some time for a resolution to be presented,” he added.