Alex Trelinski
A WAGE DEAL amounting to at least 10% rises in pay packets for many workers in Spain has been agreed between major employers associations and trade unions.
The CEPYME and CEOE employers group signed a collective bargaining deal with the CC OO and UGT unions in Madrid on Wednesday.
Union members will see wages rise by 4% this year, and 3% in 2024 and 2025.
Inflation is currently running at just over 4% but the agreement stipulates that the overall 10% deal could rise to 13.6% over the next three years if inflation goes up again.
President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations(CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, said: “This agreement gives stability and peace of mind to companies so that they know in which way they should be going.”
“Collective bargaining is a means of spreading out wealth, and in that sense, this agreement takes us in the right direction,” said Pepe Alvarez, general-secretary of the UGT union which has 11 million members.
The non-binding agreement aims to avoid protests and strikes that unions were threatening, but smaller unions like those in the aviation industry are not part of the deal.
The agreement also addresses the issue of artificial intelligence (AI), acknowledging its potential to ‘progressively have a significant impact on the world of work’.
It emphasizes the need for AI to remain under human control and advocates for maximum transparency.
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