Workplace Report (January 2009)

European news

Minimum wage outstrips inflation in Spain

The Spanish government has agreed to increase the Spanish national minimum wage by 4.0% in 2009. The increase which came into effect on 1 January is twice the government’s inflation target for 2009 of 2.0% and more than twice the inflation level in December which was 1.4%.

The increase takes the monthly amount to €624 a month, up from €600, although the fact that in Spain monthly salary is paid 14 times, once extra in the summer and at Christmas, means that the annual value of the minimum wage is €8,736 (14 times €624). Around 400,000 workers get the minimum wage in Spain, about 2% of the total workforce.

The government had originally proposed a 3.5% increase, but following pressure from the unions, who wanted 8%, it raised the figure to 4.0%. This still leaves the unions dissatisfied. Fernando Lezcano, a spokesperson for one of Spain’s two largest union confederations, the CCOO, welcomed “the gesture” from the government, but described the final increase as “insufficient”.


This information is copyright to the Labour Research Department (LRD) and may not be reproduced without the permission of the LRD.