Labor summons unions and employers next Thursday to address the rise in the SMI

MADRID, 25 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy has convened CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme next Thursday to address what will be one of the first measures of the coalition Government in this legislature, the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI), according to confirmed to Europa Press in Executive sources.

The SMI is currently located at 1,080 euros per month for fourteen payments and the Government wants to raise it again by 2024. Business organizations are not opposed to raising its amount again, but have asked that its increase be limited to 3% both in 2024 and in 2025, an approach that has not convinced either the second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, or the unions.

Although he has assured that he will take into account the business proposal, Díaz has warned that the SMI cannot lose purchasing power. In this sense, a few days ago he recalled that the year-on-year inflation in November will range between 3.7% and 3.8%, therefore above the 3% proposed by the employers.

UGT and CCOO also consider CEOE's offer for the increase in the SMI to be "insufficient" and advocate taking into account, not only the general CPI, but also the evolution of the prices of basic products, such as food, to determine its increase. .

The roadmap proposed by the CEOE involves raising the SMI by 3% by 2024, from the current 1,080 euros for fourteen payments to 1,112.4 euros per month, and applying another 3% increase by 2025, which would place it at that time at 1,145.77 euros per month. In both cases, the guarantee clause provided for these years in the contract agreement with the unions would be applicable.

In any case, the employers' association specifies that its proposal "has as a sine qua non" the modification of the price review regulations in public sector contracting processes to impact the increase in the SMI on contracts in execution, as It is also included in the V AENC signed by business organizations and unions.

The business approach would imply an increase in the SMI, in two years, of 65.77 euros, the equivalent of a 6% increase compared to the current amount. Thus, the SMI would increase by 32.4 euros next year and by 33.37 euros in 2025, according to the businessmen's proposal.

The organization led by Antonio Garamendi defends that its joint proposal with Cepyme to increase the SMI for 2024 and 2025 is in line with what was agreed with CCOO and UGT in the V Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC).

The collective bargaining agreement signed by CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme in May of this year recommends salary increases of 3% for both 2024 and 2025, with a salary review clause that, in the event of deviation from inflation, could imply additional increases of up to 1% for each of the years of the agreement (2023-2025).

UGT and CCOO SEE THE EMPLOYERS' PROPOSAL "INSUFFICIENT"

However, the unions understand that the SMI must provide "the minimum of sufficiency and dignity" indicated in the European Social Charter (60% of the average salary), so they do not see it appropriate to link the increases in the SMI to what was agreed in the AENC. .

"The AENC includes clauses linked to the evolution of inflation, common in collective agreements, but difficult to apply in a minimum wage," the unions stressed in a statement released this week.

UGT and CCOO consider that the increase in the SMI has to guarantee compliance with the mandate of the European Social Charter, that is, be equivalent to 60% of the average salary in the country, as stated in the investiture agreement between PSOE and Sumar.

For this reason, union organizations advocate taking into account the evolution of the prices of basic products, such as food, which constitute the fundamental part of the shopping basket of those who receive the basic income, to guarantee that this salary covers the basic needs of working people and their families.

For the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, the SMI has to rise taking into account two variables: how average salaries are evolving in Spain, which are around 5.2%, and how the prices of basic products are rising. that make up the shopping basket of people who have lower salaries, an increase that is "much higher" than the 3% proposed by the CEOE.

At the beginning of this year, the Government agreed, only with the unions, to raise the SMI by 8% for 2023. Its commitment for this legislature is to establish, by law, that this minimum income must always be equivalent to 60% of the average salary. .

The CEOE also did not join the increases in the SMI for 2022 and 2021 agreed by the Government of Pedro Sánchez with CCOO and UGT, but it did agree with them on the increase in 2020, when it increased from 900 to 950 euros per month.