Díaz accuses the employer of blocking wage increases while inflation continues to rise

He says that before the summer holidays he wants to convene the SMI Committee of Experts to continue uploading it

MADRID, 5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has accused this Tuesday the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) of being "practicing a blockade" in the wage increases of workers when inflation stands at 10.2% , according to the advance data for May.

Díaz participated this Tuesday in the first LGTBI state meeting organized by the UGT, under the slogan "LGTBI people in collective bargaining and social dialogue in Spain", where he supported the union's general secretary, Pepe Álvarez, who this morning once again defended a rise in wages.

For the Minister of Labor, Álvarez has presented "a sensible idea" that has "enormous common sense." "Far from the debates about moderating or not moderating (wages), I am very clear and I join what Pepe has said: this is not the time to moderate wages, quite the opposite. Remember what (Luis) De Guindos said (Vice President of the European Central Bank), that we do not lower wages because we would enter into a clear risk of default in the European Union as a whole", he defended.

The wage increase advocated by Díaz also includes a review of the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI), as the minister pointed out during the act. The Government approved in February an increase in the SMI up to 1,000 euros per month in 14 payments and its objective is to equal it to 60% of the average Spanish salary at the end of the legislature.

Díaz has pointed out that inflation is having an impact on all wages, but especially on those of people "received an income around the SMI."

"I have said it in advance, we must continue to raise the SMI and mitigate the impact it is having on the working people of our country (...). Before going on vacation, we wanted to reconvene the SMI Expert Commission , I think we had said it, and I have a pending conversation with the social agents", the Minister of Labor advanced.

The unions will continue to mobilize to demand a salary increase from the employers, with concentrations before the employers' headquarters in the main Spanish cities this Wednesday.