Populist Sánchez announces new increase in minimum wage (€1,080), blames employers for Spaniards’ loss of purchasing power

sanchez

“Let’s talk in depth about what the two processes are that have led to the loss of purchasing power by the middle and working class in our country. The first process is that real wages have been falling for more than a decade”, the president explained yesterday in his debate with Nuñez Feijóo, leader of the opposition, adding that “big companies do not raise their employees’ wages by a single cent” despite making millions in profits. And he claimed that employers prefer to reward their top managers rather than raise their workers’ salaries.

He forgets, no doubt, that Telefónica has just agreed a rise of more than 7% for its 13,000 employees in Spain, that Mercadona – whose president the leader of Podemos describes as a “ruthless” businessman – raises 5.7% for its 93,000 employees… Of course, raising salaries by Royal Decree when you do not have to pay them out of your pocket, nor give explanations about the balance of accounts, as the government – which increases public debt by 6,000 million a month – does, allows even higher rises…

Next, Sánchez announced that the government will raise the minimum wage by 8% in 2023 after reaching an agreement with the trade unions. The increase was agreed after two meetings where the employers decided not to attend. “They had already decided on the increase, we didn’t go to appear in the photo,” say the employers’ association.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.