CPI powers escalation to review several agreements with salary increases by EFE

Madrid, December 10 (.). – The loss of purchasing power for workers in the face of the inflationary escalation that the economy is going through forced to review many collective agreements to incorporate salary improvements for the coming years, while unions forced others to mobilize to achieve this goal.

For now, the average wage increase agreed in the collective agreement — which is enjoyed by about 35% of workers in Spain — was 1.69% through November, but still far below the 6.8% inflation rate that month, according to for prior data.

Banks will raise wages by 4.5% in 2023

One sector that has just announced salary revisions is the financial sector after the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), CCOO and UGT agreed to increase salaries by 4.5% for 2023, instead of the 1.25% initially planned.

The agreement, which includes a revision of the agreement that was in effect until December 2023, includes the consolidation of an additional 3.25 points, which will start to be received as of next January 1.

The measure was adopted based on the known consumer price index, and once the final figure and corporate profits for 2022 are known, they will urge the reopening of the sectoral observatory and, where appropriate, the agreement negotiation committee to adopt new compensatory measures.

The perfume sector also recently reached a new state agreement with the unions, valid for four years (2022-2025), which specifies a salary increase of 15.5% and has retroactive effects from January 1, 2022.

The agreement, which also deals with provisions for updating salaries, was reached after eleven months of meetings and rallies.

The group catering sector in Spain also closed a new agreement for the period 2022-2024 that sets out wage increases of 3% in 2022, 2.5% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2024, which will apply to more than 100,000 people. It also includes reviews of 0.5% and a maximum of 2%.

Progress has also been made on service stations after the Spanish Association of Fuel and Fuel Retailers (Aevecar), CCOO and UGT reached a preliminary agreement considering a minimum wage increase of 9% during the three years of validity.

This prior agreement, which extends to 50,000 workers and also includes a provision for an annual audit of 75% of the real CPI, allowed for the cancellation of the focus scheduled at the beginning of the month.

In customer service centers, CCOO and UGT have reached an agreement in principle with the Association of Customer Experience Companies (CEX) to sign a new agreement that includes a salary increase of 3.5% for 2022 and 2023 and 3% for 2024. For 2025 it will be in accordance with the CPI at a minimum 1% and a maximum of 3.5%, while in 2026 it will increase according to the CPI plus 0.5% with the same limit.

In the aviation sector, Iberia has just signed a collective X agreement for pilots which includes a minimum 10% salary increase until the end of 2023, and hopes to reach an agreement with cabin crew.

More than 4% in department stores and distribution chains

In the case of supermarkets, the Federation of Fetico, the majority, proposes salaries in supermarkets and chains such as El Corte Inglés, Carrefour (EPA :), Alcampo, Ikea or Leroy Merlin up 18% in four years, at a rate of more than 4.2% annually, reaching an average salary of 18,227 euros in 2026.

For its part, the Vasga union group proposes to increase this percentage to more than 19% in negotiating a new agreement involving more than 230 thousand employees.

day (BME:) Spain and the unions of Fetico, CCOO and UGT FeSMC have signed a collective V agreement, which will be valid until December 31, 2024, and which includes salary increases of between 8 and 12%.

Mercadona, the largest employer in the distribution sector in Spain with more than 93,000 workers, has not yet announced the amount of the increase for 2023, but in 2022 it has already raised wages by 6.5% and the wage increases are linked to the consumer price index.

In the shoe sector, too, workers have just staged their first strike in 45 years to demand an estimated 12.5% ​​wage increase from January and a commitment to a 15% increase over the next four years, depending on inflation.

In parallel, there are companies that promote paying extraordinary sums to their workers to increase their income without having to amend their agreements.

This is the situation Mapfre (BME :), which will pay more than 10,000 employees in Spain an extra 400 euros, in conjunction with a Christmas bonus. The measure, which excludes the management team, is in addition to the contribution of 300 euros already made in July.

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