The government and unions signed an agreement today to increase the minimum wage to 1,134 euros

The event will take place at 13:00 at the Ministry of Labor, as reported by the Department headed by Yolanda Díaz, in anticipation of this increase in SMI. It will benefit more than 2.5 million peopleOne third of them will be women and young people.

Government sources told Europa Press that the agreement needs to be formally signed before the SMI increase, which is expected to take place next week, can be taken to the Council of Ministers for approval.

Without CEOE and Cepyme

business organizations CEOE And my pocket They did not agree to the agreement He claimed that the demands of indexing SMI to public tenders and creating bonuses for rural areas in order to increase this minimum income were not met.

Both Labor and the CCOO and UGT were willing to sign up to a 4% increase if business organizations joined a tripartite agreement. If not, The ministry and unions assured that the increase would be “more ambitious” than the initial 4 percent.

In fact, the unions were demanding that the 2024 SMI be increased by 5%, i.e. 54 euros above the 1,080 euros in 2023. This was finally the agreed upon increase.

while Businessmen did not accept what they described as “blackmail” and second vice president Yolanda Díaz, who criticized the “arbitrariness” of the increase due to the lack of consideration of technical criteria, argued that according to the Quarterly Labor Cost Survey, salaries increased by 5%, so the SMI should rise to the same level. rhythm. He also argued that social dialogue should have “incentives” to reach agreement.

At the beginning of last year the Government agreed solely with unions to increase SMI by 8% by 2023. The government’s commitment to this legislature is to establish, by law, that this minimum income must always be equal to 60% of annual income. average salary..

CEOE also did not agree with the 2022 and 2021 SMI increases that the Pedro Sánchez Government agreed with the CCOO and UGT, but agreed with them about the increase in 2020, when it increased from 900 euros to 950 euros per month. Since 2018 SMI has increased by 54%, from just over 700 euros per month to 1,134 euros in 2024.

Following the SMI increase, the Ministry of Finance, as last year, will increase the exemption minimum In Personal Income Tax (IRPF) in 2024 to avoid an undue impact on withholding tax.

Next week’s unemployment benefits table

In addition, next week, negotiations will begin between the Ministry, CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme to resolve the problem. unemployment benefit reform Negotiation sources informed Europa Press after the reform designed by the Government without the participation of social actors was rejected in the General Assembly of the Congress with the votes of Podemos, PP and Vox.

The second vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, had already predicted that once the increase in the SMI was closed, unions and employers would be called to begin negotiating this reform, which was one of the milestones envisioned and approved in the Recovery Plan. It is connected with the receipt of the fourth payment of European funds.

After the unemployment benefit reform was not approved by Congress, the minister reminded: This reform is the “only” reform that the Government has failed to submit to social dialogueIt had to be approved before December 31 before Spain could request the fourth payment, which would allow it to receive another 10 billion euros from the European anti-crisis fund.

“We will now open the table for social dialogue and agree on this reform with social actors,” Díaz said. He accused Podemos of “beating” workers “hand in hand with PP and Vox” By voting against approving a reform that would expand the scope and amounts of the subsidy.

This reform was designed with the goal of taking effect on June 1, so its disapproval did not have an immediate impact on the unemployment benefit protection system.

But the decree regulating this also covered other issues, such as the prevalence of regional agreements on the extension of breastfeeding leave or the sectoral and state agreements that the PSOE agreed with the PNV in return for its support in the appointment of Pedro Sánchez. Head of government. These two issues came into force and lost their validity with the disapproval of the standard.

The announcement that this subsidy reform would now be negotiated in social dialogue was welcomed by unions and employers, who believed it should have been done this way from the beginning.

When the SMI agreement between the government and the unions was closed last Friday, It’s time to open the subsidy tableThat the Executive would pursue its goals of expanding its scope and amount, and that the subsidy for people over 52 should be reviewed, was what led Podemos to reject the norm and lead to its disapproval.

Reform still on the way Increased the amount of subsidy in the first year of receiptThe first 180 days were made eligible for employment without loss of benefits and were linked to the signing of an operating contract by the beneficiaries.

In particular, the reform increased unemployment benefit, currently 480 euros per month, equivalent to 80% of Iprem, to 570 euros (95% of Iprem) in the first six months and to 540 euros per month thereafter. six months (90% of Iprem) and then 80% of Iprem is clawed back until it expires, with a maximum of 30 months depending on age, family circumstances and duration of benefit consumed.

on the subject Allowance for citizens over 52 years of ageIts amount remained at 80% of Iprem, but Social Security contributions for retirement contingency at the time of its receipt were gradually reduced from the current 125%. Thus, in 2024 the contribution base will be equal to 120% of the minimum base of the General Regime in force at any time; It will be equivalent to 115% in 2025; To 110% in 2026 and 105% in 2027.

The repealed reform included in the subsidy also people under 45 without family responsibilities (about 150,000 people, according to Labor Party estimates) and prospective agricultural workers residing outside Andalusia and Extremadura (about 250,000), as well as cross-border workers from Ceuta and Melilla. .