MADRID, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Ministry of Labor does not rule out proposing to social agents an increase in the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) that places it above 60% of the average net salary recommended by the European Social Charter and committed to in the investiture agreement between PSOE and Sumar si This is how he achieves an agreement with unions and businessmen, according to sources from the Department headed by Yolanda Díaz.
The Ministry points out that the current SMI, of 1,080 euros per month for fourteen payments, is already at 60% of the average net salary, so that, in order to continue complying with that equivalence, it should be updated every year taking into account two parameters : the average salary increase in collective agreements and inflation, so that you do not lose purchasing power.
Taking both elements, the increase that the SMI should experience in 2024 to continue representing 60% of the average net salary would have to be between the 3.6% at which the average salary increase agreed in the agreement is expected to end the year and the 3.8% of inflation (average November 2023 over December 2022).
However, the unions ask not to go below 5% and the CEOE has proposed 3%, with a possible additional increase of 1% if inflation deviates. Labor's idea is to reach an agreement with both parties, even if that means that the 2024 SMI is above the reference of 60% of the average net salary.
The reason, sources from the Ministry of Labor allege, is that this reference of 60% of the average net salary is not impregnable, especially because the intention of the Department of Yolanda Díaz is to raise the SMI with the agreement of unions and employers.
Of course, although it will be negotiated in social dialogue, Labor has no intention of deviating much either up or down from an SMI that represents 60% of the average net salary, but it will not put any ifs or buts in order to achieve the agreement. , it must be raised somewhat above the parameters it manages: the average salary increase agreed upon in the agreement (3.46% until October) and inflation.
In any case, the Ministry is convinced that between what the unions propose (5%) and what the employers propose initially (3%) it is feasible to find a figure that brings both parties into the agreement and with which Labor complies with the requirement that the SMI be equal to at least 60% of the average net salary.
For now, the Department led by Yolanda Díaz will meet again with unions and employers on December 11 at 10:30 a.m., a meeting in which, according to Labor sources, the final proposal would be more mature and could even be closed. an agreement.
THE IMPACT OF THE SMI ON EMPLOYMENT: SPAIN, A LEADER IN JOB CREATION
Faced with theories that suggest that raising the SMI harms employment, especially for women, young people and foreigners, and drives down salaries, Labor denies that this policy has harmed the labor market.
According to data managed by the Ministry, Spain is the EU country that has created the most salaried employment since the SMI began to be raised, with 944,300 more jobs comparing the average for 2022 with that of 2018. This figure exceeds 812,000 jobs created by Germany in this period, according to Eurostat data.
It is also the country that generated the most female employment in this period, with 514,500 jobs, in contrast to the less than 400,000 created by Germany, whose labor market is double that of Spain.
Taking data from the Active Population Survey (EPA), in the five years in which the SMI has gone from 739 euros per month to 1,080 euros per month, salaried employment has grown by 10%, compared to 1.6% for employment. autonomous; female employment has increased by 12%, compared to 8.6% for male employment, and full-time employment has increased by 12.3% in contrast to a fall in part-time employment of 1.6%.
At the same time, they defend from Labor, the employment of those under 30 years of age has increased by 14.8% in the last five years, doubling the growth rate of those over 30 years of age, and foreign employment has increased more than that of the Spanish population.
THE IMPACT OF THE SMI ON WAGES: THE LOWEST WAGES RISE TO DOUBLE DIGITS
In Labor they are also convinced of the beneficial effects of the increase in the SMI on salaries and deny that it has negatively affected those who receive the lowest salaries. In fact, Ministry sources highlight that the rise in the SMI is having a special impact on deciles 1 and 2 of the salary distribution, that is, the deciles in which the lowest-income workers are found.
In this sense, Labor highlights that the average salary of the first decile has grown by 29.9% in the last five years, compared to the average increase of 9.5% of all salary deciles and the 4.6% in which it has increased the average salary of the highest salary decile.
Furthermore, the average salary of women increased by 13.7% in the last five years, double that of men; that of part-time employees increased almost 20%; that of young people aged 16 to 24 increased by 20.5% (compared to 7.5% of those over 45 years of age), and that of temporary workers and foreigners also increased by over 20%.
All of this, according to Labor, has had an impact on the gender wage gap, which has been reduced by 5.3 points since 2018, to 15.7%, and has also had a positive impact on the reduction of inequality, because while In 2018, workers with the highest incomes earned ten times more, today they earn eight times more.
