Pay rise for lowest earners
THE MINIMUM wage (SMI) in Spain has been raised again, this time to €1,260 per month, a monthly increase of €93.30 (8%), making an annual salary of €15,120.
The government agreed the amount with the CCOO and UGT unions after over a month of negotiations, which the CEOE employers’ association refused to participate in, having held out for a rise of just 4%.
It was announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the Senate on Tuesday, straight after minister for work Yolanda Díaz had sealed the deal with the union leaders.
The unions had been holding out for 10% but she got them to settle at the top end of a band between 4.6% and 8.2% suggested by a committee of experts.
The rise is greater than the consumer price index of 5.7% and therefore an increase in purchasing power for these workers.
Sr Sánchez said workers had lost purchasing power over the last decade due to lack of responsibility by politicians and the private sector, defending his coalition government’s increases to the SMI against the ‘intractable opposition of neo-liberals’.
These increases total 47% over five years and fulfil its pledge to reach 60% of the average wage.
Sr Díaz said she was ‘very satisfied’ for working people that this ‘very important’ deal had been made through ‘social dialogue’.
“It will enable relief of poverty wages and reduce the gender gap,” her ministry assured.
CCOO secretary general Unai Sordo said it will benefit 2.5 million workers, particularly women and young people aged 16-34 with temporary contracts in agriculture or services.
Although it was announced as an increase to €1,080 per month, this figure is based on the traditional Spanish system of 14 annual payments.
The SMI applies to full time work in any profession, regardless of the type of contract the worker has.
It still has to be approved by the Cabinet but will apply retroactively from January 1, meaning workers will receive the extra they are owed from this month in their February pay-packet.
Many other countries of various political leanings have also increased their minimum wages, and Spain is now 17th in the global ranking of 107 countries, below European neighbours such as France (€1,709), Germany (€1,987) and the UK (€1,929).