Spain’s Minimum Wage Set To Rise To €965 Per Month Government Announces
Spain News
Published: 17 September 2021 16:00 CET
Spain’s government and labour unions have agreed to increase the minimum wage by 15 Euros per month, it was announced late on Thursday.
The rise will see the minimum monthly wage increase 1.6% from €950 to €965 per month.
The increase will be retroactive and will begin from September 1. It will mean that those currently receiving the minimum wage will see their payments increase in their next salary payments.
Unfortunately, the increase is still lower than the current rate of inflation which stands at around 3% meaning less spending power for those earning the minimum wage.
The increase is the second in less than two years with the government and labour unions committed to making further increases to the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI) with the aim to add further revisions in 2022 and 2023 until it reaches 60% of the average annual salary.
It’s believed that amount was in the middle of the 12 to 19 Euro range which was proposed by the Advisory Commission for 2021.
The SMI is a guarantee of protection of the income of the most vulnerable workers and acts as a fundamental tool in the fight against working poverty.
There has been much debate and conflict on the issue in recent months with the government and unions at loggerheads and unable to come to an agreement.
Both Prime Minister Sánchez and Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño elected to freeze the SMI, while Deputy Prime Minister Díaz was in favour of increasing it.
Although the rise was finally agreed upon late on Thursday, the decision was delayed throughout the day as the unions had demanded that the government also commit to increases in 2022 and 2023.
On Thursday, the general secretary of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), Unai Sordo, said that the government should commit to increasing the SMI to €1,000 in January 2022 and that there should be another increase in January 2023.
A statement released by the Ministry of Labour only confirmed that this rise means “advancing in the commitment” shared by the government and unions so that the SMI reaches €1,049 euros in 2023, but did not specify when the next increases would be.
Mariano Hoya, deputy secretary of union policy at Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) said, “The agreement is positive, despite the moderate increase of €15 euros for 2021. The government has taken the average of the proposal of the commission of experts. It’s less than we expected, but we consider that the position of the Executive to increase the minimum wage is on the right track.”
However, the employer’s associations were not keen on the increase and rejected it completely. Antonio Garamendi, president of the Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales (CEOE), insisted that raising the SMI would cause “less employment” and “more underground economy.”
Garamendi said that as a result of the increase, hundreds of jobs would be lost. He also criticised the plan for more increases in the next few years.
Source
https://www.thelocal.es/20210917/e965-a-month-spanish-government-announces-small-rise-in-minimum-wage/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-16/spain-unions-agree-eu15-increase-to-minimum-wage
https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/trabajo14/Paginas/2021/160921-salariominimo.aspx
