Madrid (EFE).- The average wage increase agreed in the collective agreement until February was 2.89%, more than three points lower than the inflation rate of 6% for that month, while the agreement for employment and collective bargaining (AENC) is still stuck and the Government advocates monitoring business margins.
This week the CCOO and UGT have met with CEOE and Cepyme to resume the negotiation of a framework agreement that serves as a reference for the renewal of the agreements, with the idea of meeting again after Easter, after the employers have not No proposal for a salary increase has yet been submitted.
The negotiation of the new AENC has been stalled since May of last year, when the employer refused to include salary review clauses linked to inflation to guarantee purchasing power, a mechanism that the unions continue to defend and against which the employer maintains its rejection .
These clauses were present in 13.26% of all collective agreements with economic effects in 2022, a percentage that has risen to 16.58% so far in 2023.
The loss of purchasing power exceeded five points in 2022
The loss of purchasing power of workers amounted to 5.6 points last year, taking as reference an average annual inflation of 8.39%, compared to the average wage increase of 2.78% agreed in the agreement.
Although if only the agreements renewed in 2022 are taken into account -and not the set of agreements with economic effects that year- the unions indicate that the average wage increase agreed would be close to 4%, still 4.4 points below the CPI half.
In addition, in a report on collective bargaining, the CCOO also points out that 48% of the workers whose agreements were signed in 2022 are covered by a salary review clause.
The union proposal
In an attempt to grease the dialogue, CCOO and UGT have raised guarantee clauses based not only on the inflation rate, but also on the progress of the sectors, so that salaries are revalued to a greater extent in those companies with higher benefits .
In addition to this review mechanism, the unions propose initial increases of 5% for 2022, 4.5% for 2023 and 3.75% for 2024, which has generated the rejection of the CEOE to apply a retroactive increase for 2022 .
The agreement seems distant, despite the desire for dialogue expressed by the parties, with which the agreements will continue to be negotiated without a reference to serve as a guide, which could increase the conflict in some sectors.
Monitor business profits
In parallel, the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, has opted to follow business margins “very closely” to ensure that everyone contributes to moderating prices that in the case of food continue to run amok.
Although he was referring to the impact of growing margins on final prices, the truth is that monitoring company profits is one of the points on which unions have been insisting the most since inflationary tensions began.
The unions propose the creation of an observatory in the Ministry of Finance that certifies the benefits and progress of companies and sectors, to be able to determine “reliably” the situation and calculate a corresponding guarantee clause.
Within the Government itself, the part of United We Can insist on capping the price of some food or subsidizing them as was done with fuel last year.