The unions warn that in January a new increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) will be essential to maintain, in this way, the equivalence with 60% of the average wage. This percentage was one of the objectives of the governing coalition of the PSOE and Podemos, and it was fulfilled after reaching 1,080 euros per month this year. It meant a 47% increase in SMI in five years, after going from 736 euros in 2018 to the current 1,080 euros.
For CC.OO., in January this salary will have to be increased. “Stagnation is not acceptable”, says Carlos Gutiérrez, federal secretary of Trade Union Studies and Training, who adds that the increase is required given the inflation that is being recorded, especially in areas such as food, where it is skyrocketing, and it particularly affects lower-wage workers. It is a first union warning, although at the moment no figures have been advanced. It will be towards the end of the year when the average salary can be calculated, and from here start the negotiation.
In any case, employers, and especially small and medium-sized companies, have already criticized this equivalence. “Excessive emphasis has been placed on the minimum wage reaching the equivalent of the average national wage, when this is not met in any European country”, states the document of the Cepyme Proposals of Cepyme for the new Government.
There is no government and it is not expected immediately, but unions and employers are preparing the ground for a negotiation of the SMI. In 2020, the CEOE agreed with the increase, but it was the exception, and in recent years it has opposed it.
The truth is that the power to establish the SMI corresponds to the Spanish government, which is only obliged to a prior consultation with the social agents. From there, it decides “taking into account the CPI, the national average productivity achieved, the increase in the share of work in the national income and the general economic situation”, according to the Workers’ Statute.
In any case, Cepyme criticizes the 60% target because the average salary is very different according to the Spanish provinces, the sectors and the size of the companies. He considers that this objective does not take into account the Spanish reality and, therefore, the SMI “long exceeds this proportion in many provinces, especially the most depopulated”. His conclusion is that “this labor cost has become unaffordable for many SMEs, especially in the service sector”.
One of the elements that this employer points out is that increases in the SMI have a much greater impact on SMEs, as shown by the fact that the average wage has increased almost twice as much among small companies as in large ones since 2018. In specifically, an increase of 10.4% in SMEs and 5.7% in the largest ones. Analyzing by sector, they highlight that in six areas the SMI currently exceeds 60% of the average salary, with the most prominent case in the hospitality sector, where it practically equals it. In addition, by territorial distribution, it appears that in 13 autonomous communities the 1,080 euros of the current SMI already exceeds 60% of the average salary.
These are the employers’ arguments. Instead, the unions demand the equivalence of the SMI with 60% of the average wage in 2024. “A wage must be that income of a worker that allows him to live, not just survive, for himself and his family ”, says Carlos Gutiérrez, from CC.OO. He also argues the impact of inflation among families, therefore also the most benefited by any increase in the minimum wage, and adds that the experiences of recent years of increases in the SMI have been positive “not only on a social scale, for the worker, but also for the country’s economy as a whole”.
