Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) announced at a rally on Saturday that Spain’s minimum wage will be increased from the current 1,050 euros per month to a total of 1,134 euros.
Compared to the previous minimum wage level, this corresponds to an increase of 5% and will be paid in 14 installments, Sánchez said, adding that the measure is expected to be approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. Euractic partner EFE reported.
“This is (…) what we socialists have to do, to transform the realities of our people and to support the social majority,” Sanchez said at a party rally held in Galicia on Saturday as part of the campaign for local elections. It is to govern for the sake of the people,” he said. This region has traditionally been dominated by right-wing parties.
The prime minister added that raising the minimum wage would help strengthen the “social shield” that Mr. Sánchez’s progressive coalition government with the PSOE and the left-wing Smar platform is trying to strengthen to protect the most vulnerable.
Five and a half years ago, under the government of former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (Partido Popular, PP/EPP), Spain’s minimum wage was just 745 euros a month, Sánchez said. However, 745 euros in 2019 is now worth about 910 euros when adjusted for inflation.
Sánchez also stressed that Spain is “on the right track” in terms of wealth creation, recalling that the country’s GDP is already “growing more than five times the euro area average.”
According to the latest data from Spain’s state-run National Institute of Statistics (INE), Spain’s GDP growth rate in 2023 will increase by 2.5%, one-tenth of expectations, but Eurostat data shows GDP growth rate was only 0.5%.
Sánchez also pointed out that Spain currently has one of the “lowest inflation rates in Europe (…) (3.1%)”.
In his view, the advances made by the government and previous left-wing leaders, allied with the then-almost-defunct left-wing party Unidas Podemos, have definitely changed the lives of the majority of people.
“Strong feminist policy”
Referring to the impending amnesty law that would pardon illegal acts carried out by Catalan separatist forces in recent years, Sánchez said, “Now more than ever, Spain is committed to doing the right things, including expanding jobs, strengthening social policies, and promoting coexistence.” We are moving in that direction.” The government believes this will help heal “old wounds” between Madrid and Catalonia.
The minimum wage increase was agreed in mid-January between the government and the country’s main trade unions (UGT and CC.OO), but was not signed by the employers’ association (CEOE). An increase could have a negative impact on job creation.
In return, the CEO proposed a 3-4% increase in the minimum wage, accompanied by measures such as promoting government contracts and promoting employment in the agricultural sector, among other demands. Proposed.
In Spain, the minimum wage will increase by 344.1 euros per month from 2018 to 2023, corresponding to an increase of 46.8%.
Labor Minister and Smar leader Yolanda Díaz recently asserted that raising the minimum wage will contribute to building a “better country.”
“This is the most powerful feminist policy ever developed,” stressed the former Unidas Podemos leader, who is now at odds with his former party’s leadership.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
