Government and social agents meet this Monday to try to agree on rise in SMI
The Ministry of Labor will meet this Monday at noon with representatives of CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme to try to agree to the increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) this year and the one that should be experienced in 2022 and 2023 to fulfill the commitment of legislature to bring it to 60% of the average salary , as reported to Europa Press in sources of the negotiation.
This is the “definitive” meeting on this matter, since the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has already said that the Government’s decision on how much the SMI will rise this year will be taken after this meeting and will be applied “quickly”.
Thus, whether or not there is an agreement with the social agents, Díaz has assured that there will be an increase in the SMI, since it is “the most effective tool to combat poverty . ” In principle, according to executive sources consulted by Europa Press , the increase in the SMI could not be approved in the ordinary Council of Ministers on Tuesday, since it must first pass through the Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs, but it will see the light this month.
Currently the SMI is at 950 euros per month for fourteen payments and the Government’s intention is to raise it for the remainder of the year between 12 and 19 euros per month , which would mean an increase in relative values of between 1.2% and the 2%. This range would follow the recommendations of the report on the SMI made by a commission of experts and published last June.
Although the path that the Government wants to follow is to increase the SMI between 12 and 19 euros this year, the unions have assured that an increase of 15 euros this year and 31 euros was raised at the meeting held by the parties last Monday. euros both in 2022 and 2023. If these amounts are met, the SMI would reach 965 euros per month this year, 996 euros per month in 2022 and in 2023, at the end of the legislature, it would reach 1,027 euros per month.
Although the Government does not have the obligation to agree to the increase in the SMI with unions and employers, only to consult them, Minister Díaz wants to achieve a new agreement on social dialogue. However, this time it seems difficult given the refusal of the CEOE to raise the SMI now , when companies are still trying to get out of the crisis.
The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has warned that increasing this minimum income at this time could harm employment , raise the shadow economy and negatively affect the sectors where the SMI is most used: the countryside and domestic service. Although the employer is opposed to raising the SMI in 2021, it has been “open” to analyze the scenario of this income for 2022 and 2023.
Insufficient raise for unions
After the meeting, the Government will set the increase in the SMI for this year, although it also hopes that in this meeting the path of increases for 2022 and 2023 can be agreed , for which it also plans to follow the recommendations of the expert committee.
For the moment, the unions consider the approach that Work has transferred to them insufficient. The Deputy Secretary General for Union Policy of the UGT, Mariano Hoya, believes that at least a 25-euro hike should be applied this year , a rise that they see as moderate, sensible and prudent and that is in line with the real situation of the economy.
For Mariano Hoya, it is time to “give security and stability” to companies and workers with an agreement that runs until 2023 and that places the SMI at 60% of the average salary in Spain . “The Government has to be more courageous and raise the SMI more in a sufficient and dignified way,” he said after the meeting last Monday.
For her part, the secretary of CCOO Union Action, Mari Cruz Vicente, has warned that the Government’s proposal does not guarantee the maintenance of purchasing power in 2021 and hopes that this will improve in the meeting tomorrow.
