The CEOE calls on the Government to reveal what the salary increase for civil servants will be next year
The patronal has taken advantage of the Government’s announcement that it will lower the VAT on electricity from 10% to 5% to redouble its offensive for less taxes. “It shows that taxes can be lowered so that the economy works better,” said the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, during the closing of the general assembly of the business entity. From the bosses they have criticized the Executive for the failure of the income pact that it promoted to contain inflation, they have insisted on introducing adjustment factors to contain spending on pensions and have demanded to know what the salary increase of civil servants will be for next year.
“We are concerned about the economic situation we are in.” The president of the CEOE began his speech with this message, referring to the high levels of existing inflation and the levels of deficit and debt registered by the Spanish State. Now that the pandemic emergency has passed, the bosses’ discourse has turned towards containing public spending and an absolute veto of any tax increase.
In this sense, he has sent a direct message to the second vice president and leader of United We Can in the Government, Yolanda Díaz, who advocates increasing the number by 10 points. corporate tax on energy companies. “Beware of those ads, beware of over-milking the cow,” she said. “Business decisions are made globally,” she added, indirectly referring to the hypothetical departure of headquarters from Spain to avoid this tax increase.
Holds the Government responsible for the failure of the income pact
The employers suspended negotiations this year with the unions to agree on wage increases in the current context of inflation. There Garamendi has openly criticized the Government for not doing its part to put together a broader pact than the salary and defend the rent agreement for which Pedro Sánchez advocated In the beginning. “We are not going to talk about certain issues, but let’s talk about yours,” said Garamendi, who has insisted on reopening the debate on pensions around a new sustainability factor to reduce spending. “We are not saying that minimum pensions should be lowered, but for everyone to receive what we do not want is for the system to go bankrupt,” he declared.
He has also demanded that the Treasury reveal what the salary increase for officials will be next year. “It would be a reference for us,” she said. In this sense, this very Wednesday the union Csif has summoned its affiliates to a rally in front of the ministry led by María Jesús Montero in order to open that negotiation. The centrals fear that, given the escalation of prices, the Government opts for measures to contain the CPI and not raise the salaries (or raise them little) of public employees is one of them. Last year officials already lost purchasing power, given that a salary increase of 2% was applied to them, compared to an average CPI of 3.2%. This course still the Executive has not given signs of where it wants to take the negotiation and, at the moment, the IPC is over 8%.