736276.1.260.149.20230131163137
He criticizes that companies pay “millionaire bonuses” to their managers and “do not raise a penny” to their workers
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The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced this Tuesday that the Executive will approve a new increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) of 8% to place it at 1,080 euros per month in 2023 –in fourteen payments–, after reaching an agreement with the UGT and CCOO unions.
The President of the Government has advanced in his first appearance of the year in the Senate this new increase in the SMI, which will be applied retroactively from January 1 of this year, with the aim of placing it at 60% of the average Spanish salary. “Our fight to improve the conditions of workers and to achieve a fairer distribution of business profits has only just begun,” Sánchez stated before the Upper House.
Sánchez’s announcement comes after the meeting, a few hours ago, of the general secretaries of the CCOO and UGT, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, respectively, and the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, who would have closed the last fringes of an agreement that The CEOE has been disengaged.
It should be remembered that the experts who advise the Government recommended raising the SMI between 4.6% and 8.2% by 2023, which would place this minimum income at between 1,046 and 1,082 euros per month, compared to 1,000 euros per month for fourteen payments currently in force.
All in all, the increase proposed by the Executive until placing the SMI at 1,080 euros in 2023 would be in line with what has already been foreseen by Labor and would be below what the unions were demanding (1,082 euros-1,100 euros) and above what proposed by employer (1,040 euros).
“THE SECOND COUNTRY IN THE OECD WHICH HAS INCREASED THE SMI”
During his speech before the Upper House, the President of the Government emphasized that Spain is the second OECD country that has increased the Minimum Interprofessional Wage the most, raising it by 36% since the start of the current Executive’s term. “In other words, from 735 euros when we arrived at the Government, to 1,000 euros gross per month in 14 payments,” Sánchez emphasized.
Now, after the increase that will be applied this 2023, Sánchez has highlighted that the Executive complies with a legislature commitment that is to place the SMI at 60% of the average Spanish salary, as established by the European Social Charter.
But Sánchez has warned that the purpose of the Government is not limited only to demanding a fairer distribution of profits from companies, but also that companies generate more wealth and that this wealth “does not remain on high, in those of above”.
“If the wages of the middle classes and also of the working classes have not risen as much as they should throughout this decade, it is also the result of an economic model that was imposed then based on competing in costs and attracting companies because here we paid lower wages compared to the rest of Europe”, denounced the president.
CRITICISM THAT COMPANIES INCREASE PROFIT AND DO NOT RAISE WAGES
At this point, he has blamed politics and part of the private sector for the loss of purchasing power of workers. “In 1999 a Spaniard needed four annual salaries to buy a flat and today he needs eight annual salaries,” she pointed out.
At this point, he has criticized that some companies increase benefits, pay millionaire bonuses to their managers and “do not raise a penny” to their workers.
“I wonder if this situation is fair”, the president asked himself after affirming that if a company earns 600 million euros, why does it allocate part of that profit to only a few, such as the CEO, the boards of directors or the financial director and “not to the dependents, administrative or replenishers”. “Don’t they also have merit in that business success? I think so,” said Sánchez.
The president has also charged against the “promise” of the right to lower taxes: “What good is it for a person to lower taxes by 44 euros a month if they then have to spend 2,500 euros on private insurance, in a nursery for his son or in a residence for his mother?” asked the president.
He has also warned that Spaniards have to spend more and more on private health services and has accused the right of wanting to turn “rights into merchandise”: “This only makes us increasingly poorer and less free It is not freedom, it is slavery”, he has warned.
ASK FEIJÓO WHAT INTERESTS HE DEFENDS
The president has boasted of the economic data registered during the year 2022 and has assured that his forecasts “have fallen short”, in the face of the catastrophism that the PP has been predicting in recent months.
After reproaching the leader of the popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for his refusal of measures such as the ‘Iberian exception’, the President of the Government has asked him what interest he defends when autonomous communities led by his party are raising appeals for the unconstitutionality of the new temporary tax on the great fortunes.
In addition, Sánchez has taken the opportunity to demand that Feijóo “do not speak ill of Spain” outside its borders. “With that, it could be enough for us,” concluded the head of the Executive.
