The increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) is once again a source of conflict between PSOE and Sumar. The socialists want to guarantee by law that it is placed in the 60% of the average salary, while in Yolanda Díaz’s party, as already happened during this legislature, they are more ambitious. His intention, according to direct sources in the negotiations, is to link it to inflation to ensure that there is no loss of purchasing power, which would bring it closer to 70% of the average salary. This is one of the main points that are slowing down the negotiations between PSOE and Sumar to advance a programmatic agreement for the coalition Government.
From the party led by the second vice president, they argue that the SMI is currently already at 60% of the average salary. That is why they frame the position of the socialists in their resistance to carrying out increases above the annual CPI to guarantee the purchasing power of the almost two and a half million workers who receive it, according to data from the Executive. From the PSOE negotiating team, headed by the acting Minister of Finance and deputy general secretary of the PSOE, María Jesús Montero, they defend their proposal because would shield the rise of the SMI by legal mandate. To do this, they would specify in article 27 of the Workers’ Statute its equivalence with 60% of the average salary.
The increases would be automatic depending on the average salary situation. 60% of the average salary was the figure that was committed to in the coalition government program of the last legislature, currently placing it at 1,080 euros in 14 payments. For Sumar, whose negotiating team is headed by its economic spokesperson and acting Secretary of State for Social Rights, Nacho Álvarez, this is a ground that is also required by the European Social Charter as a source of law. Furthermore, they criticize that this is a figure that is still far from European comparisons.
For Sumar, it is essential to continue increasing the SMI based on the evolution of the CPI, but doing so “above inflation”. They also justify it in accordance with the Workers’ Statute. However, its article 27 leaves it open by establishing that the Government will set the minimum wage “taking into account,” among other issues, the consumer price index. The reform of the Workers’ Statute proposed by the PSOE would also need the endorsement of Congress, with an arithmetic exit from the polls in which more conservative formations such as PNV and Junts would be essential.
The two major unions, CCOO and UGT have already demanded an automatic increase, guaranteed by law, setting its floor at 60%. Looking ahead to 2024, the union centers estimate that it should be 1,200 euros in 14 payments. Other organizations such as the Cepyme employers’ association already warned after the last increase in the SMI that in small companies it was already at 70% of their average salary.
The PSOE and Sumar proposals may have different implications for workers and companies, with their pros and cons. Establishing by law the floor that the SMI must be equivalent to 60% of the average salary at any given time can cause losses of purchasing power for these workers in years of high inflation and in which it is not reflected in salary increases by agreement or is made in a deferred manner. Business sources warn, in parallel, that Sumar’s proposal to always raise the SMI above inflation would cause tensions in collective or corporate agreements if the increase causes the salaries of other job categories set in the salary tables to overflow.
The other problem that negotiating teams are encountering has to do, precisely, with the calculation method for the median of the average salary. From Sumar They complain that an outdated figure is being used. Likewise, they consider that the calculation method agreed upon should include factors that affect the increase in the cost of living, such as the shopping basket or the evolution of housing prices. Based on this, corrective elements would be established to compensate for it. That is why they look more at 70% of the average salary, since the statistical sources used are from previous years, than at 60%. However, they emphasize that the key for them is the link with inflation.
Differences during the legislature
The increase in the SMI in line with inflation already represented a clash between Yolanda Díaz and Nadia Calviño in the face of the latest update. The first opted for an increase that took inflation into account, in line with the unions, while the economic vice president resisted reviewing it based on the CPI. Finally, the head of Labor prevailed and, without the agreement of the employers, it rose 8% to reach 1,080 euros. A decision that was framed within the anti-crisis plan due to the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine and that Pedro Sánchez justified because “real wages have been falling for a decade”with an increase of 10% compared to the 16% increase in the standard of living.
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Sumar has already expressed in its electoral program the commitment to raise the SMI above the CPI to maintain purchasing power. An increase “carried out by the Ministry of Labor within the framework of social dialogue in the last four years has proven to be the best instrument to combat working poverty, inequality and the gender gap.” To this they added that, “now, in addition, the increases in the SMI must serve to boost the general salary growth of our country.” The socialists, for their part, committed themselves in their program to “guarantee in the Workers’ Statute that the SMI be adjusted to 60% of the average salary; “also an effective measure to achieve equal pay between men and women.”
In recent days there has been progress in the negotiations for the government program of the hypothetical coalition, although the main conflicts are in labor matters. In matters such as reduction of working hours or causes for dismissal. The negotiating teams are working on a program in line with the powers of the future executive, which they plan to reinstate in several cases to reduce portfolios, and finally the distribution of ministries.