ETUC Spanish affiliate UGT is mobilising for a pay rise in Spain through its ‘Speed up to 1,000 euros’ (Ponte a Mil) campaign.
Together with the CC.OO federation, it is pursuing a collective bargaining strategy aimed at securing at least €1,000 a month for all workers.
UGT General Secretary, Pepe Álvarez, said the “big challenge” for the union is the distribution of wealth and that “all policies are aimed at spreading the wealth that is being generated”. Spanish GDP has been growing by 3.5% since 2016, but wages have not kept up. Average pay is 5.4% lower than in 2009, without even taking account of increases in the cost of living. Almost half of the country’s 15.3 million employees earn less than €1,000 per month.
New employment does not help people to get out of the poverty trap or to recover the great wage loss generated by the crisis, pointed out Pepe Álvarez. “If Spain has emerged from the crisis, why haven’t the workers?”
