Díaz asks the social agents to take it "seriously" and sit down to negotiate a new pact of agreements to raise wages in Spain

The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday an 8% increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), up to 1,080 euros per month in 14 payments, with retroactive effect from January 1 of this year.

This increase was agreed by the Government, CCOO and UGT on January 31, with the rejection of the CEOE and Cepyme employers, who did not attend any of the two meetings that were called to address the amount of this minimum income.

With the increase approved this Tuesday, the SMI will stand, with effect from January 1 of this year, at 15,120 euros per year, 1,080 euros per month and 36 euros per day.

In the case of casual and seasonal workers whose services to the same company do not exceed 120 days, the amount of salary may not be less than 51.15 euros per legal working day.

For household employees who work by the hour, the hour worked will be paid in 2023 at 8.45 euros, the result of including all remuneration items, extraordinary bonuses, breaks and vacations.

In the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the Government spokesperson and head of Territorial Policy, Isabel Rodríguez, highlighted that since Pedro Sánchez became President of the Government, the SMI has risen almost 50%, close to 350 euros , and has stressed that with its increase to 1,080 euros, one of the commitments he made in his investiture speech and in the coalition agreement with Unidas Podemos is fulfilled.

For her part, the second vice president and head of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, highlighted that, with the rise of the SMI to 1,080 euros, which will affect some 2.5 million workers not covered by collective bargaining, the The Government complies with its legislature commitment to place this minimum income at 60% of the average Spanish salary, as established by the European Social Charter.

"The Government complies with its program commitments. We comply with the government agreement and with the 60% commitment contained in the European Social Charter (...) Today we are also complying with Europe", stressed the second vice-president.

Díaz also highlighted that the SMI "is a variable that allows people's lives to be changed", so that its rise to 1,080 euros per month will allow, for example, a mother to buy seasonal fish or fruit for her children.

The second vice-president also stressed that the SMI has "a very strong impact" on consumption and internal demand, stimulates the economy and is "the best tool to combat working poverty and to advance pay equality" between women and men .

"The most feminist tool for improving women's social rights is called SMI," said Díaz, after recalling that women and young people will benefit the most from the rise in SMI to 1,080 euros per month.

At the same time, the head of Labor has highlighted that the SMI also has "transversal benefits" in the social field, since it has a "key impact" on child poverty, life expectancy and mental health. "If you have a slightly better salary, you have more peace of mind to be able to pay the bills," she has indicated.

The second vice president has denied the "neoliberal mantra" that the increase in the SMI destroys employment and has thanked the social agents for their work in social dialogue, including the CEOE, which, although it did not sit at the negotiating table of the SMI, "made proposals".

CALL TO THE SOCIAL PARTNERS FOR A NEW COVENANT AGREEMENT

Díaz has taken advantage of his speech to once again ask unions and, above all, employers, to sit down to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement to raise wages in Spain.

"I appeal to the social agents. We have complied with the rise in the SMI, but the social agents must take seriously the necessary compensation for the purchasing power of salary income", stressed the vice president, who insisted that the crisis "Wages are not causing it."

The 8% rise in the SMI agreed between the Government, CCOO and UGT for this year is the highest since 2019, when this minimum income was revalued by 22.3%. In 2020, the increase was 5.6% and was extended during 2021, until a new increase of 1.6% was approved in September of that year, applicable from the 1st of that month until December 31, 2021. In 2022, the SMI rose 3.6%, to 1,000 euros in 14 payments.

The figure agreed between the Government and the unions for this year is somewhat below the high band recommended by the Commission of Experts to which Labor commissioned the studies of the SMI. The report presented by this Commission established a range of increases for 2023 of between 4.6%, up to 1,046 euros, and 8.2%, up to 1,082 euros.

The final amount is also somewhat less ambitious than what the unions were asking for. UGT claimed an SMI of 1,100 euros per month, while CC.OO. It moved between those 1,082 euros of the high band of the experts and 1,100 euros.

Although the CEOE did not attend any of the two meetings called by Labor, it sent a document to the negotiating table in which it proposed a 4% increase for the 2023 SMI and demanded that the situation of the field and the contracts be reviewed. private companies with public administrations.