Pepe Álvarez, the general secretary of the UGT, spoke to the CEOE to press for a firm negotiating date and time to reopen salary talks that have been stalled since early May. The union leader signaled willingness to defer some 2024 salary increases to facilitate an agreement, but he insisted on keeping partial salary review clauses to prevent a widening gap between negotiated salaries and the eventual raise. He also asked the Government to set a minimum salary of 1,100 euros until 2023.
Over recent weeks, both employers and unions have traded blame for the stalled talks, with intervention from second vice president Yolanda Díaz in favor of the social dialogue leadership. Álvarez reiterated his offer to employers while cautioning that the calendar for talks remains aligned with the CCOO to manage worker protests planned for the autumn.
“There is time, but not much,” the UGT leader told journalists in a recent briefing. He warned that there is no agreement in sight and that the talks may fail to progress if the parties do not move forward.
The AENC, or national inter-sectoral agreement, has long served as a framework for wage negotiations on a three-year cycle between employers and union leaders. The last such agreement expired in 2020 and has not been renewed. Negotiations for a new AENC have been interrupted by disputes over including wage review clauses, inflation-linked adjustments, and the CEOE’s resistance to certain inflation-driven demands.
Álvarez argued that any deal must reflect inflation dynamics. His proposed path involves distributing 2024 salary increases over the subsequent years. He stressed ongoing willingness to keep negotiating from the employer side, noting that the CEOE has never left the negotiating table, a point echoed in a recent corporate statement [Attribution: CEOE].
Regarding salaries, the UGT leader referred to the November discussion planned on the inter-professional minimum wage (SMI), which stands at about 1,000 euros gross monthly in 14 payments. He pressed for a raise to 1,100 euros, arguing that the change should track the current inflation rate of around 10 percent.
Recovery fund for mortgage families
The UGT’s stance includes a call for a government-backed recovery fund to support households with floating-rate mortgages. Borrowers are already feeling rising costs as Euribor trends upward and central banks adjust rates. Álvarez framed the proposal as a social responsibility move: “We helped banks during the last crisis; now it is time to support families.”
Álvarez also praised the early months of the labor reform, highlighting its impact on contract stability. Data from the previous year showed a rise in permanent contracts, with a notable increase in the share of indefinite arrangements. He acknowledged, however, that enforcement remains uneven and urged a substantial expansion of the Labor Inspectorate’s resources to ensure full compliance with labor standards. “ Big laws are only as good as their enforcement,” he remarked, pointing to the inspectorate as a critical pillar of effective reform [Attribution: Ministry of Labor].