Spain to approve freeze to minimum wage

 

The Cabinet is expected today to approve a freeze on the minimum wage for next year, unions said Thursday.

This would mean that salaries will remain at a minimum of €645.30 per month in 14 payments. In other words, workers who put in a full day's work in Spain will earn at least €9,034.20 annually.

The CCOO and UGT unions made the government's proposed freeze public in joint statements in which they rejected the government's plan.

Union leaders said that the Spaniards' purchasing power continues to fall and many workers cannot make ends meet at the end of the month. The purchasing power of Spaniards has continued to drop since 2007, the CCOO and UGT said.

Last year, the government of Mariano Rajoy decided to increase the national minimum wage by a slight 0.6% after a freeze for 2012.

The unions said they had not seen the proposal until Thursday morning, when the government sent it to them.