The president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has warned this Monday that the Government “forces” to increase wages, although “not all companies are doing well.” Hence, the highest representative of the employer has assured that some companies cannot face a significant increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI). “We are in an election year and we are going to find magical solutions,” said Garamendi, who visited Zaragoza to participate in a conference held by CEOE Aragón on sustainability in companies.
In statements to the media, he has said that there are company service contracts with public administrations in which the minimum wage has risen by 35%, but instead, the administrations “refuse” to update the import of said contracts, as is the case of the cleaning, security or food sectors in schools and hospitals. “They force you to raise wages but the contracts continue to be where they are and you cannot get out of that contract until there is a new public tender,” Garamendi continued.
“The contracts are still where they are”
“Work should know what a company is”, considered the president of CEOE in reference to the rise in the minimum interprofessional wage. Thus, he has indicated that businessmen do not say that the SMI should not rise, but that it must be done in such a way that the different sectors can face it. The president of the CEOE has asserted that if the Government of Spain does not attend to these sectors, as is the case of agriculture,
“Work should know that it is a company”
Likewise, Garamendi has criticized that some taxes raised for the ecological transition are aimed at “collection”, mentioning the case of fluorinated gases or the recently released tax on plastic containers, which are part of “a sum and sum of taxes “to obtain” a higher collection.
“It is a very important blow for a sector such as food,” Garamendi pointed out about the tax on plastic, which he believes can affect the cost of products. “No one is saying that the ecological transition does not have to be made, but some think that it is done by charging more,” he criticized. Regarding the labor reform, he said that its effects “will be seen over time” and added that “social peace will work”. Of course, he has summoned the Government to study the evolution of discontinuous fixed lines.
