CCOO and UGT warn of an increase in labor conflict if wages are not raised

MADRID, 9 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

CCOO and UGT have gathered this Thursday in Madrid 1,500 negotiating unionists, under the slogan 'Salaries or conflict', who have urged "maintain firm positions at the negotiating tables" of collective agreements, and have warned of an increase of labor conflict if a rise in wages is not achieved.

The unions ask for a rise of at least 3.5% by 2022, 2.5% by 2023 and 2% by 2024, in addition to the introduction of the salary review clause.

The general secretary of the CCOO, Unai Sordo, explained to the media, before the start of the act, that the intention of this meeting is "to explain first-hand how the negotiations are going after not reaching a salary agreement with the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE)", referring to the breakdown of the talks of the Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC), at the beginning of May, due to their distant positions on the salary review clause.

"The unions have come to express to the negotiators that we must maintain firm positions at the tables and that our clear will is to reach a salary agreement, but at this time we need to stress collective bargaining," said Sordo.

The CCOO leader has also asked employers for "co-responsibility" and has criticized their "short-term and selfish" attitude with their reluctance to raise wages.

For his part, the general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Álvarez, has affirmed that the meeting has taken place for two reasons, so that the opinion of the union organizations is known directly in relation to how collective bargaining should be carried out and to that the CEOE knows that this conflict will only come out if they sit down at a negotiating table with the unions.

"We have a more than reasonable request, we have proposed a salary increase for the year 2022, 2023 and 2024, which together add up to 8% and there is something that they must guarantee us, which is that the workers are not going to lose purchasing power, which is the salary review clause, and that is the point that the employers must be aware of, that either we have a calm negotiation, agreed with the union organizations, or we enter into a process of more social conflict", he added.

Sordo and Álvarez have been accompanied by some 1,500 negotiating unionists from blocked or conflicting negotiating tables, who have come to the Plaza del Museo Reina Sofía, in Madrid, with pennants from their respective unions and regional flags.