The Minister of Labor and second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, has shown this Thursday an “explicit support” for the mobilizations proposed by the unions for the fall due to the blockade in wage negotiations with the employers.
“I would ask the CEOE to commit to its country, therefore my explicit support for union mobilizations against the Spanish employers,” he said at his entrance to the session of the Congress of Deputies. “Mr. Garamendi knows very well what is happening in our country and blocking the negotiation of collective agreements is not a good recipe for a country that needs workers to stop losing purchasing power,” he added immediately.
On another front of dispute, the minister has reiterated that “more than ever we are going to raise the minimum wage.” She advocated a rise that goes “beyond the path of 60% of the average salary”, the reference marked in the European Social Charter. “We have to be aware of the situation we are experiencing,” she said. The commission of experts that advises the Government for the increase of the SMI will meet on September 2. In its current roadmap, an increase in the minimum to 1,049 euros is recommended for 2023. “Without a doubt, we are going to raise the minimum wage and we are going to do it more than ever, because we are in a situation of absolute political exceptionality”, has asserted.
According to the minister, in addition to the 60% target, other factors must be taken into account, such as the increase in inflation, currently 10.8%, which reduces the purchasing power of workers, she recalled, suggesting that the rise could be even higher. Article 27 of the Workers’ Statute establishes the revaluation of the minimum wage based on inflation, the participation of wages in national income, productivity and the economic situation, she detailed.
