Díaz will convene social agents after Reyes to address the increase in the 2024 SMI

The vice president assures that 2024 will be the year "of the reduction of the working day and the modification of dismissal"

The second vice president of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, announced this Wednesday that she will convene the social agents after Kings to address the increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), whose amount has started the year at 1,080 euros monthly waiting for its increase to be approved for 2024 with retroactive effects from January 1.

"As soon as we return from Three Kings' Day, we will convene the social dialogue table, and the Government of Spain, together with the social agents, will continue to raise the minimum wage to compensate for the losses in purchasing power that workers are suffering," said Díaz. in statements to RNE collected by Europa Press.

The vice president has stressed that, contrary to neoliberal theories that warned that raising the SMI was "very negative" for employment, the number of employed people is at "record levels."

"We will continue to raise the minimum wage as one of the best measures to fight against inequality, against working poverty and above all, because it is one of the most feminist measures in our country," said Díaz, who has denounced that Spain has a negative differential of 25 points with the European salary averages.

"To have prosperous societies we also need better salaries. Therefore, there remains, not only in terms of minimum wage, but also in terms of salaries, a lot to do," said the second vice president, who pointed out that the median salary in Spain " is very low" and "does not allow us to live with dignity or have decent housing.

THE YEAR OF THE DISMISSAL REFORM AND THE REDUCTION OF THE WORKING TIME

The second vice president has stated that 2024 "will be the year of social rights", of the reduction of working hours and of the modification of dismissals to also accommodate European standards.

"Therefore, the year 2024 will continue to be the year of gaining rights for our country, because with different public policies in the field of work, the economy is also much more efficient," Díaz indicated.

In this sense, the minister has stressed that "it is the first time that it has happened" that, through the modification of the labor market, the situation of the Spanish economy is improved. "And this is very good for our country," concluded the minister, who recalled that it has now been two years since the labor reform.