Álvarez (UGT) sees the CEOE sit-in as "unreasonable" and will conclude the SMI negotiation today

He assures that the income agreement that Calviño is asking for is "like Groundhog Day" and warns that this only delays raising the SMI.

Álvarez (UGT) sees the CEOE sit-in as "unreasonable" and will conclude the SMI negotiation today

He assures that the income agreement that Calviño is asking for is "like Groundhog Day" and warns that this only delays raising the SMI

MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Álvarez, has affirmed that the CEOE's position of not attending today's meeting with the Ministry of Labor to address the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) is "aesthetic" and is based on "excuses unreasonable".

Álvarez, in statements to RNE collected by Europa Press, has related the absence of the employers in the meeting on Tuesday with the criticism of businessmen that some members of the Government have launched in recent weeks.

"The political debate in Spain, as in the whole world, brings opinions, not insults, in relation to companies", argued the union leader.

In any case, Álvarez has stressed that the Government has known since last December the position of unions and employers in relation to the rise in the SMI for 2023, for which reason he considers that the "consultation" that the Ministry of Labor will carry out today to unions "is not excessively necessary.

Thus, for the UGT leader, the 2023 SMI negotiation ends today, since what is urgent is to raise the SMI "immediately". "Millions of people are waiting for this rise and need it to be able to survive in the face of rising prices (...). We concluded the negotiation today, there is no more rope", he assured.

Asked if he believes there is a division within the Government regarding how much the SMI should rise this year, Álvarez has indicated that it is the president, Pedro Sánchez, "the one who sets the tone" and trusts that "once again he will be sensitive" and take into account the situation of SMI recipients, who are currently receiving 1,000 euros gross per month.

"You cannot live with 1,000 euros a month, nor with 1,100, but the upward path cannot be broken. I would tell those who oppose raising it to try living for a month with less than 1,100 euros and they will see what happens," said the union leader.

Álvarez has also affirmed that the argument that raising the SMI destroys employment is "an old-fashioned roll", since it has been shown that this is not the case, but rather the opposite. At the same time, he has defended that the rise in the SMI is the factor that has reduced the gender wage gap the most.

Regarding the statements of the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, that the increase in the SMI should be part of an income agreement with the social partners, Álvarez stressed that the income agreement is "like the day of the groundhog".

"We have been after the income agreement for a year. The Government has been taking support measures for families and companies, with agreement or with prior consultation with unions and employers in some cases. There is no more rope for an income agreement. The employers do not he has wanted from the first day and to return to that is to delay the rise of the SMI", he criticized.

Regarding the negotiation with the employer of a new agreement of agreements that includes recommendations to raise wages, the general secretary of UGT has warned that either an agreement is reached in the coming months or the unions will reorganize and go to "mobilizations most important" of those that have been convening in recent months.

Finally, and asked about the progress of the negotiations with the Government for the second leg of the pension reform, Álvarez has indicated that these are "stagnant" and that in order to reach an agreement it is necessary for the Executive to guarantee that what has been agreed has sufficient majority to be approved in Congress. "It makes little sense to close an agreement if there is not a majority that approves it," he remarked.

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