Díaz advocates that the SMI rise by 3.8% "at least" to compensate for the loss of purchasing power

MADRID, 4 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The second vice president and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, considers that the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) should rise "at least" 3.8%, a percentage at which the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been ) in the month of November, according to advance data.

"This is the minimum, because the inflation crisis is real. We have to compensate for the loss of purchasing power," Díaz stressed in an interview on the program 'Al Rojo Vivo', on La Sexta, collected by Europa Press.

According to Díaz, the country needs "serenity and an agreement" within social dialogue for this increase. "That is to say, what there is not in politics that is given again in social dialogue seems to me to be vital because both companies and workers in our country need certainty and security," he stressed.

The head of Labor has highlighted that the SMI has multiplied the lowest salary deciles by almost 30% and has served to reduce the pay gap by 5.3 points. However, Díaz has warned that Spain still registers a negative differential of 25 points in terms of salaries with Europe.

"I want a country model in which we do not have 'low cost' companies, nor do we have low salaries, nor do we compete through subcontracting with low salaries," he insisted.

However, 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 if it achieves an agreement with unions and employers, 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.