Farmworker in Menorca

Employers had wanted a specific arrangement for agriculture. | Efe

Andrew EdePalma02/02/2023 09:11
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The president of the CAEB Confederation of Balearic Business Associations, Carmen Planas, has criticised the Spanish government's "unilateral" decision to raise the minimum wage by 8% to 1,080 euros (fourteen payments). Planas considers that this will be counterproductive in terms of creating jobs and notes that the CEOE Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations did not attend the dialogue table convened by the employment ministry as it had not received any response to its proposals.

In her view, "they (the government) are campaigning against businesspeople". This "imposed" rise will reduce employment in some sectors, such as agriculture, and will hinder relations and dialogue between the government and employers.

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Planas stresses that employers were not opposed to an increase - the CEOE had proposed four per cent to 1,040 euros - adding that "increases were being negotiated for individual sectors of between 3% and 4%".

By contrast, Ana Landero of the UGT union in the Balearics has expressed her satisfaction with the government's announcement, even though "it does not meet all our expectations"; unions had sought an increase to 1,100 euros. "It is not the increase we expected but we are satisfied because it was necessary in the inflationary environment in which we find ourselves and in terms of social justice."