Yolanda Díaz, the second vice president of the Government of Spain and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, is not giving up and has opted today, Friday, to continue raising the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), which is currently at 1,134 euros per month in 14 pay. She will do it herself, as she has announced, with the call to social agents next September, according to Europa Press. And she has warned that she will raise the SMI “with or without a social agreement.”
During her appearance at the Senate Labor Committee to report on the general lines of her Department, the vice president denounced that, despite having risen 54% since Pedro Sánchez governed, with the current amount of the SMI “you cannot live ” “.
“With 1,134 euros (per month) you cannot live in Madrid, nor in Vigo, nor in Coruña, nor in Murcia, nor in Cartagena, nor in Andalusia, nor anywhere. You cannot live. Therefore, the The Ministry of Labor’s strategy is to continue raising the minimum wage, doing so with a social agreement. (…) We are going to continue doing it, whether there is an agreement or not,” Díaz stressed.
If we look at the median salary, which is 1,545 euros per month in Spain, Díaz has also indicated that, with this import, “you cannot live with dignity.”
“We have engineers who receive these salaries. And here there is much to do to have a better country and to also be able to converge with levels, not ‘low cost’, but levels of dignity that make the most robust European economies” said Díaz, who added that raising salaries in Spain “is a moral duty.”
Faced with the “hecatomb” in employment that was predicted by some sectors due to the rise in the SMI, Díaz stated that Spain “leads job creation in Europe.”
Furthermore, he has defended that the increase in the SMI, which affects some 2.5 million people not covered by collective bargaining, has contributed to reducing the gender pay gap by 25% and “narrowing” the distance between workers who earn more and those who receive a lower salary.
Likewise, he highlighted that the increase in the SMI, the ERTE and the labor reform explain that Spain currently has the lowest levels of inequality in the series. “We are eliminating historical exclusions,” said Díaz, who recalled that we must continue fighting “against old and new inequalities”, such as housing, whose rental prices are “impossible” to pay in some areas.
To fight against inequality, the second vice president has insisted that the Public Indicator of Income with Multiple Effects (Iprem) must be raised, which during the coalition government has risen by 11.3%, reaching 600 euros last year. monthly.
“I am not saying that I am happy with this, I am saying that after it was frozen from 2011 to 2020, we have managed to raise it by 11.3%, but I think that right now, immediately, it is essential to raise the Iprem. And I say this because the crisis in the cost of living is very serious in our country. We have already prepared the norm to raise it to 3% and continue raising it throughout the legislature,” said Díaz.
Regarding the negotiation with social agents to reduce the working day to 38.5 hours per week this year and 37.5 hours per week in 2025, Díaz indicated that “the Ministry of Labor wants to seek an agreement at the table.”
“I know that it is very difficult to reach an agreement at the table, I know very well what diatribes the employers and unions are in, I know very well what they are both asking for. The Ministry of Labor is going to continue working in the search for an agreement because The agreement is always much better than an imposition by one party (…) Agreements give social legitimation, they reassure people. Is this agreement difficult? It is. Is it possible? It is,” the minister pointed out.
On the other hand, the vice president has indicated that, although it is not a matter of her competence, the cessation of activity, known as the self-employed strike, “needs some reform” because there are access difficulties for the group.
“Any professional, for a cessation of ordinary activity to be recognized, must end up suing, probably appealing and reaching the higher courts for them to recognize this fact,” he stressed.
The minister, who began her appearance by offering data on the current state of the labor market, has also defended the effects of the labor reform, with a 10-point reduction in the temporary employment rate, to 13.2%, below 14.1%. of the European media.
“I think it is working and it is what allows us today to have 15 million of the 18 million salaried people with indefinite contracts in our country. And this is what makes us better,” said Díaz, who added that the labor reform It has also ensured that the partiality rate has been reduced by one point, to 13.5%, “its lowest value since 2010.”
“We are below European rates, but having the lowest bias rate, the difference is that bias in Spain is not voluntary,” he stated.
Díaz also recalled that Spain already has 21 million members, a new employment record, with almost 10 million contributors in Spain, and a growth in employment in contribution group 1 (engineers and graduates) of 30%. . , four times higher than that experienced in group 8 (first and second officers).
He also stressed that although Spain is a country of SMEs, business size has grown by 18% in Spain and accounts for 84% of employment. Companies with more than 50 workers account for 60% of the jobs in Spain.
