The salary agreement, formalized this Wednesday with the signature by the highest representatives of the employers CEOE and Cepyme and the unions CCOO and UGT, has achieved what only a few months ago seemed almost impossible: reconciling the interests of one group and the other and evenly distributing the costs of inflation. The minimum increase of 10% of salaries in the next three years (4% this year and 3% the next two) fosters a period of social calm and defuses the threat of a hot autumn. It is not a small thing, seeing the episodes of conflict and tension in the streets in France, Portugal or Germany. Without detracting from its importance within the framework of social dialogue, it must be remembered that the fifth Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC) It is a guide or reference for the almost 1,400 agreements that must be renewed, but that its compliance is not mandatory. Despite this, seeing the main social agents reunited in a pact again is a very good sign for economic confidencea return to the concertation that had been lost on other key issues such as the interprofessional minimum wage.
In 2022 the attempts to reach an agreement were unsuccessful. If it has now been possible, in addition to the goodwill of trade union and company representatives, it is because the economic evolution has allowed it. A year ago, inflation was at much higher levels than it is now, especially energy prices, which made companies’ bills more expensive and hindered their competitiveness. In some sectors, assuming a salary increase was simply unfeasible then. Now inflation is still high, but less (last April it was 4.1%, while the average for 2022 was 8.4%) and, although the rise in interest rates will reduce economic growth, the forecasts are not bad .
Moderation and flexibility
The rapprochement between employers and unions has also been possible because both sides have given up with respect to their initial claims. The employers have done so in their refusal to fix wages to the CPI (the agreement provides for an additional increase of up to 1% if inflation exceeds the agreed annual rise), and the unions have renounced to include in the AENC the year 2022, so the devaluation of more than 5% of salaries is not compensated which was registered then. The feared effect of a second round of inflation (that the rise in wages or business margins further increase inflation) could be mitigated with the wage agreement, which moderates the positions of both.
One element that has facilitated the agreement is the flexibilitysince the text expressly mentions that they should be “take into account the specific circumstances” of each sector or company. It is important, because some companies have serious difficulties to face the rise in costs and are not in a position to apply the agreed salary conditions, something that the employers have been warning for a long time, and that the CCOO and UGT understand, but not some political representatives who insist in blaming the business community for all the ills. The confrontational message may favor some partisan interests, but it does not benefit social welfare, which the social agents have achieved in this salary agreement.