Álvarez (UGT) praises Díaz's "special sensitivity" for supporting the mobilizations to raise wages

MADRID, 26 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The general secretary of the UGT, Pepe Álvarez, thanked the second vice president and minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, this Friday for her "special sensitivity" in supporting the mobilizations that the unions are preparing for the fall to demand employers raise wages.

In fact, Álvarez, in statements to the SER chain collected by Europa Press, has blamed the CEOE for the fact that the unions have to resort to protests so that they lend themselves to increasing wages in collective bargaining.

"The situation in which CEOE has put us is difficult to maintain. They are responsible for the fact that there has been no general agreement on the agreements, which are currently stuck, and they are responsible for the fact that society mobilizes this fall to achieve an agreement that allows the agreements to maintain their purchasing power", assured the union leader.

Álvarez has affirmed that, in order to unclog this situation, an agreement is needed that includes wage increases, which would help boost internal consumption and the economy, but he has denounced that the CEOE "has no will to negotiate".

"The companies are passing on the inflation to the rise in prices. There is an increase in prices of up to 30% in the hotel industry. The companies are making profits, it is only necessary to look at electricity companies or oil companies. They have to be aware that As workers, we only have the salaries to pass on these benefits in our daily lives", he underlined.

In addition to demanding an increase in salaries in the private sector, Álvarez has asked the Government to raise the salaries of public employees and to raise the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) to 1,100 euros per month by 2023.

"It makes no sense to say in the morning that we are not going to leave anyone behind and in the afternoon that the people of this country are going to lose 5% of purchasing power. The SMI affects 3.5 million people who have many problems , that they are having a really bad time and that they have to see their standard of living increase after the crisis we have gone through," he defended.