Employers and unions sign the salary agreement for the next three years

The social agents have signed this Wednesday the V Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC), which includes a salary increase of 10% in three years, between 2023 and 2025. The general secretaries of the UGT and CCOO, Pepe Álvarez and Unai Sordo, and the presidents of CEOE and Cepyme, Antonio Garamendi and Gerardo Cuerva, have signed the pact in the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, without the presence of any member of the Government.

All the signatories have coincided in stressing the importance of the agreement and have valued collective bargaining, highlighting the bipartite nature of the pact. In this sense, the president of the CEOE has highlighted the “stability” that in a moment of economic uncertainty like the current one brings with it the agreement, which, according to what he said, shows the “responsibility” of the social agents and “does not go in against nobody, it goes in favor of everyone and of Spain”. Along the same lines, the president of Cepyme has indicated that the pact generates “certainty”.

The Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has also highlighted the importance of the agreement from the corridors of the Congress of Deputies and has subtracted weight from its absence. “The only important thing in this country is that we are going to raise salaries and not the photos”, he assessed “Here there is no veto by anyone or against anyone. But it is also true that what we want here and what we have to value is bipartite social dialogue”, Garamendi said about the absence of members of the Government. The photo of the signature has been very different from that of the previous AENC, which was attended not only by Díaz -already then minister-, but also by his predecessor, Magdalena Valerio, and was signed at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Council , advisory body of the Government.

Although they have recognized assignments, both the employers' representatives and those of the unions have been satisfied with the agreed terms. Of particular note is the 4% wage increase agreed for 2023 and 3% for 2024 and 2025, to which is added a review clause of up to an additional 1% in the event that the interannual CPI for December exceeds the agreed percentages. The CCOO general secretary has indicated that, taking into account the review clause and the economic prospects, the final increase could be between 10.33% and 13.56% until 2025.

The general secretary of the UGT has emphasized that this rise “will not only allow purchasing power to be maintained, but also to improve it”. “It will allow more people to have more resources to continue driving consumption,” he added, at the same time that he stated that it places Spain in an “unbeatable” position to continue on the path of economic growth and attract investors.

Negotiate 1,400 agreements

In addition, Sordo has highlighted the “negotiating intelligence” used to agree on salary increases for the next three years in a context of inflationary crisis like the current one. “It is very difficult to negotiate a general agreement in a scenario of inflation spikes as important as those known during the last 18 months,” he stressed.

The AENC signed this Wednesday sets a multi-annual framework within which the parties agree to negotiate the collective agreements in which they participate. “The fact that it is an obligatory agreement does not mean that it does not have to be applied, it means that it obliges the organizations that sign the agreement,” said Álvarez.

Having laid these foundations, the unions are confident that they will be able to unblock over the next few months the almost 1,400 collective agreements that remain to be closed. “Now it's time to deploy it in the collective agreements,” Sordo pointed out, at the same time that he added that, despite having been left out of the AENC, they do not renounce agreeing on salary increases for 2021 and 2022 through the agreements. “It will be in the collective agreements where it must be resolved,” he said.

Despite the 1% cap, unions have been particularly pleased with the inclusion of an inflation-linked review clause. For his part, the president of the CEOE has stressed that the salary increase ranges are supported by forecasts of significant growth, which he has considered “important” to contain second-round inflation.

More than a pay rise

Beyond the salary increase, the president of Cepyme has valued the “bet for flexibility” of what he has said is a “great agreement” that accommodates the realities of all SMEs, with their different degrees of recovery. “The flexibility provided by this agreement is necessary at difficult times”, he insisted, stressing the impact of interest rate rises and the narrowing of margins for SMEs. “You have to be proud of this agreement,” he assessed.

The new AENC also includes other issues such as the development of teleworking and the “safe” use of artificial intelligence, as well as promoting the hiring of women in sectors in which they are underrepresented. Likewise, the role of mutual societies is recognized in contributing “to the objective of improving waiting times, health care for workers and the recovery of their health”. In relation to this point, the general secretary of UGT has clarified that it is not a substantial change with respect to what was already agreed in the previous AENC. “It does not open or close any door that is not open or closed,” he has qualified.

The agreement signed this Wednesday puts an end to more than a year of negotiations between the social partners, who in recent months have maintained total discretion until last Friday. Throughout the employers' weekend and unions closed the last “fringes” of the agreement, which has been ratified by the governing bodies of the four signatory organizations. “In this country we leave everything to the last minute, that has led us to have to run,” acknowledged Álvarez.

All the signatories have pointed out the need to continue now negotiating the collective agreements to delve into the content of the AENC. “There are very important issues and they are open to be worked on in the agreements and negotiating tables,” said Garamendi. “This is the path, is the way, the recommendation,” he added, stressing the commitment of employers to defend the agreed terms. 

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