By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s main trade unions and employers’ associations signed an agreement on Wednesday to implement a wage hike of at least 10% over the next three years.
The agreement stipulates that businesses will incrementally increase wages by at least 4% in 2023, followed by 3% in 2024 and 2025. This move is aimed to revitalize workers' purchasing power, which has been detrimentally affected by inflation, which averaged 5.7% in Spain last year.
The pact also states that if inflation continues to run hot, the wage increases could increase to 13.6% over three years.
“This agreement ensures stability and certainty for businesses, providing them with a clear path to navigate," said Antonio Garamendi, president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, a body that represents around 3 million employers across all sectors.
“Collective bargaining is a means of spreading out wealth, and in that sense, this agreement takes us in the right direction,” said Pepe Alvarez, secretary general of the UGT union, whose negotiations benefit around 11 million workers, according to the union.
The non-binding agreement was also signed by Spain’s second-largest union Workers' Commissions (CCOO), as well as the small business association Cepyme.
The pact aims to avoid a wave of protests that the unions were threatening under the banner “wages or conflict.” However, businesses are not mandated to adhere to the recommendations and many ongoing strikes, such as those in the aviation sector, have been called by smaller unions.
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.