8 percent increase in the minimum wage in Spain
The President of the Spanish Government, Sánchez, in his speech in the Senate to explain the social and economic effects of the Ukraine-Russia war, announced the increase in the minimum wage by 8 percent.
Sánchez recalled that the minimum wage was 735 euros in 2018, the year in which they first came to power, and stressed that with the increase they have made every year, they have decided to raise a total of 36 percent so far.
“With this new increase, we have increased the minimum wage to 60 percent of the average Spanish wage,” said Sánchez. Thus, we have fulfilled our democratic obligation towards our workers and our commitment in the legislative process”. saying.
Since the Socialist government came to power, the minimum wage, paid 14 times a year, with bonuses every six months, has increased to 764 euros in 2018, 900 euros in 2019, 950 in 2020, 965 euros in 2021 and 1,000 euros in 2022. .
CRITICAL FOR COMPANIES REPORTING HIGH EARNINGS
Sánchez also pointed out that the purchasing power of Spaniards has decreased a lot in recent years, and criticized large companies that declared high profits, distributing profits only to senior managers.
Prime Minister Sánchez said:
“In the last 10 years, the average increase in the price of products purchased by Spaniards has been 17.6 percent, while the increase rates of private sector companies for their employees have remained at 10, 6 percent. This is unacceptable. In 1999, a Spaniard could buy a house equal to the sum of 4 years of his salary. Now they can’t buy a house even with a full salary of 8 years. I think this is not fair. Why are the profits distributed to a few people? That has to be changed.”
There are more than 2.5 million workers with minimum wage in Spain.
WHAT HAPPENED?
For her part, the Vice President of the Government and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, had invited this morning the union leaders and the president of the Spanish Confederation of Industrialists and Businessmen, Antonio Garamendi, to a meeting to determine the increase in the minimum wage.
Garamendi did not attend the meeting, alleging that the Government did not send them its proposal to increase the minimum wage and did not respond to their requests in writing.
Albert Núñez Feijoo, leader of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), on the right, accused Prime Minister Sánchez of “lying to the Spanish by hiding the truth about the country.”
Feijoo said that “while the government shows its economic steps as a victory, Spain is the country with the highest increase in external debt among the EU countries, the last country to reach the Gross Domestic Product before Covid-19 and the rate highest unemployment rate in the world. EU.
In the last general elections held in Spain in 2019, the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), led by Sánchez, and the ultra-leftist United We Can formed a coalition government with the external support of the Basque and Catalan separatist parties in parliament.
In Spain, where the general elections will be held in November under normal conditions, the latest polls point to the PSOE as the party that will win the elections, but comments that the PP and the far-right party Vox will capture the necessary majority to form the Government. (AA)