The Government has made the decision, with the approval of the unions, but not of the employers, to increase the 2025 in 50 euros, which raises its amount 4.41%, to 1,184 euros monthly gross distributed in 14 pays (16,576 euros a year). This was announced on Wednesday the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, once the last negotiating table with the social agents has resulted, despite the fact that the power to determine the base salary falls exclusively on the government. In this way, the department directed by Díaz, who has captured the conversations again, has finally opted for the highest end to match the SMI with 60% of the average salary of the country.
“Social dialogue works in our country, and we take a step forward giving good news to workers. I want to thank the social agents for their participation, also to the employer, who this time has presented concrete proposals despite the fact that it has not been possible to reach an agreement to three, ”said Díaz.
Together with the announcement of the increase of 50 euros, the vice president has indicated that within the agreement to two with the unions the complete adaptation of the European directive on wages has also been agreed “so that it is completely deployed in our country”; In addition to the launch of specific campaigns of the Labor Inspection to guarantee the compliance of the SMI in the affected sectors, and other measures aimed at improving its implementation.
Despite having agreed on Wednesday, to the edge of concluding the month of January, the new minimum wage will be applied retroactively once it is approved in the Council of Ministers. A formalism that from the Executive transfer to February 11, within two weeks. As has happened with previous touch -ups, the (most of them women in the services sector) will see updated on their February payroll with respect to the preceding month.
Although the new amount has already been defined – which has increased by 60.91% since 2018, when it was at 735.9 euros -, it is still unknown if this new salary soil, as it was happening so far. A fundamental premise for UGT, that if this did not happen. Sources from the Ministry of Finance have been rejecting ruling in this regard (although they have dropped that they could) until the negotiation would not have ended. Consulted by this newspaper after the resolution of this morning, they still do not give a specific response.
Despite the last minute movements, the Employers CEOE and Cepyme have once again stayed out of the agreement, when the government refuses to meet a series of demands that have been putting on the table recurrently in each negotiation on the SMI. Although the body led by Antonio Garamendi – which raised the minimum wage up to 1,167 euros -, an inline percentage with what they already formulated in the previous negotiation, had also claimed bonuses for the agricultural sector and review public contracts. Two aspects that collide frontally with the positions of the unions.
Conflictive comparison
The path of increases that the Government has been starring since the arrival of Pedro Sánchez is directly related to the fulfillment of the European Social Charter signed by the Coalition Executive, and that commits him to maintain the minimum interprofessional salary at the height of 60% of the 60% of the average salary of the country. A conflicting comparison that tends not to satisfy all parties, since the delimitation of the average salary is a complicated task, and that gives rise to diverse claims.
On this occasion, the unions have pressed to work to raise the SMI (which would mean an increase of 5.8%), to understand that the one set so far, of 1,134 euros, was significantly below, and that any increase that any increase that Do not tied with this barrier supposed a loss of purchasing power for these workers. “The medium salary data in our country, from our point of view, are those of Eurostat, Social Security, and Tax Agency, and all three are in that dimension,” says Pepe Álvarez, leader of UGT.
In its report, the group of academics in charge of making the calculations (among which are several university professors, economists, as well as members of the Ministry of Labor and the unions, but not of the employers) concluded that “to place the SMI of 2025 in 60% of the average net salary of 2024 would require an increase in the gross SMI in 2025 of 3.44% or 4.41%, depending on the specific way of estimating the average net salary. ” Views these two proposals, work has ended up opting for the highest band, since it is below the union demands.
In addition to the celebration of the meeting on Wednesday, the minimum wage has been located in the center of the conversation in the last week due to the fall of the first Omnibus Decree (), in which, together with many other measures, it was included The extension of the validity of the SMI of 2024 until the conversations concluded to set the 2025. Since the sufficient parliamentary support had not been achieved, this decree declined, leaving in the limbo the validity of a base salary soil, which from the Ministry of Work quickly wanted to solve through that it prevented carrying hiring with salaries below 1,134 euros.
