Yolanda Díaz, on her recent visit to Bilbao to present the Sumar political project
The vice president insists on her commitment to raise the minimum wage and on the controversial idea of capping food prices
Yolanda Díaz, who has been in Bilbao this week to present her political project, has accused the employers of blocking collective bargaining “also in Euskadi”. Thus, he maintains the pressure on businessmen after unleashing a bitter controversy in the summer by expressing his “explicit support” for the mobilizations announced by the unions in the face of the businessmen’s refusal to link the rise in wages to inflation at the dialogue table. national.
Those words aroused deep discomfort in the CEOE, whose managers branded her “arrogant.” Far from rectifying, the second vice president and Minister of Labor returned to the fray and stated that “the employers were not up to the task of this country”, although she later tried to soften the message with a “loving” call to negotiate. In an interview broadcast today by EiTB, she insisted that “it was the employers’ association that got up from the table” and that she is responsible for collective bargaining being blocked in Euskadi as well.
The paralysis in the Basque Country is especially serious because close to 67.3% of the workers –some 400,000– have not renewed their agreement and, therefore, their salary is frozen. The debate on how to transfer an inflation of 10.4% to wages is not easy to resolve, in a context of serious economic difficulties for many companies due to the energy crisis. In the Basque Country, moreover, there is greater complexity due to trade union differences, given that ELA and LAB reject the social dialogue table. Precisely this past week, the vice-lehendakari, Idoia Mendia, met with all social agents to urge them to reach agreements and avoid salary devaluation.
Díaz also insisted on his commitment to raise the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI), currently set at 1,000 euros. “In November it will be when we will know the average CPI, which will be between 7% and 8%, and then we will convene the social agents” he explained and then warned that “we will raise the minimum wage either with a bipartite or tripartite agreement” .
The vice president has once again vindicated her initiative to cap the prices of some foods with an agreement with large supermarkets, despite the tension generated in the Government and the warnings from Competition. “If a large multinational has already said that it is possible (referring to Carrefour) it is that it can be done,” she said. The idea has generated great discomfort in small businesses since it can be a hook for large surfaces.