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Inflation has been burning holes in the pockets of Spanish households for more than a year . While life became more expensive by 8.4% in 2022, salaries agreed by agreement barely increased by 2.7%. In other words, in 2022 workers lost 5.7% of their salary due to inflation (in real terms). The Government has been trying to cushion this drain on purchasing power: in recent months it has raised pensions with inflation , announced discounts for public transport , checks for vulnerable households, price caps on energy or rent or VAT reductions. to food. The last of these measures was the approval this week of an 8% increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), up to 1,080 euros per month in 14 payments, which will benefit 2.5 million workers . But in the Spanish labor market there are more than 20 million people employed, and a good part is very far from receiving this salary improvement.
The Government only has the power to legislate on raising the minimum wage. But consider that right now companies have room to improve the salary conditions of their employees. "If we look at the data on company sales and their profit margins, which have already recovered the level they had before the pandemic, I think there is room for salary increases Asia Phone Number List that are reasonable ," says the Secretary of State . of Economy and Business Support, Gonzalo García Andrés , in an interview with Business Insider Spain . It is the companies that, in social dialogue with the unions, can negotiate salary improvements for their staff, and although this year a greater percentage increase is expected as a result of the new collective agreements, it does not seem that this is going to close the loss gap of purchasing power opened by inflation. "When unions negotiate with business associations, reasonable wage growth rates always tend to emerge, because it is the companies that have to assume them," says García Andrés.
From the street to the negotiation table: sectors and companies that have agreed to wage increases in the face of inflation or mobilizations Demonstration for salary increase, Zara However, for months the differences between unions and companies have become an obstacle for many workers to gain purchasing power. In recent days, the business association CEOE refused to attend the latest negotiations on the increase in the SMI, after having proposed a 4% increase, half of the improvement finally agreed between the government and unions. And talks about an income pact that distributes the burden of the loss of purchasing power are also stalled . "We are seeing agreements in which there are different salary increases depending on the activity, productivity and the state of the sectors, but which allow salaries to rise above what they have increased," says the Secretary of State, who He gives as an example the average increase in new agreements signed.
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發表於 2024-3-7 13:46:34