Guatemala City, January 8 (RHC-teleSUR)-- Guatemalan courts have ruled that lowering the minimum wage – which would force people to work for less than a living wage – is unconstitutional.

Judges have temporarily ruled in favor of local workers and suspended a government decision to lower wages in certain areas of the country.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre passed a motion on December 30th to lower the minimum wage for workers of light industrial manufacturing in four municipalities – forcing people to work below a living wage, in a country where the poverty rate is almost 60 percent.

However, the constitutional court sided with local local unions and the ombudsman for human rights, Jorge de Leon, Thursday who argued that the move was unconstitutional.