The Spanish Government wants to raise the minimum wage to EUR 15, which is the minimum amount. It would apply retroactively from 1 September. If the agreement is approved, workers shall receive a minimum monthly remuneration of EUR 965, broken down into fourteen pay, amounting to EUR 13,510 per year, compared to EUR 13,300 per month (EUR 950 per month). In any case, the government spokesmen have said that "work is still being done to conclude an agreement" on this issue. They have not signed anything, because they lack the approval of the employers and the unions.

CCOO and UGT wanted to achieve an increase of EUR 25 in the last social agreement. Moreover, this year’s change is conditional on the government’s commitment to raise the minimum wage to EUR 1,000 by 2022. CCOO leader Unai Sordo has stated that they will be committed to a long-term process: In 2022 and 2023 they want to have the roadmap ready to continue raising.

To comply with the Brussels recommendations, the minimum wage will be 60% of the national average wage by 2023. In other words, the minimum wage for meeting the access requirements is EUR 1,027. As a first step, the final change arises: The Basque Government has proposed an increase of between EUR 12 and EUR 19, and, in the end, the rise has been halfway.

Opinion of employers

CEOE, for its part, has been the first to receive the refusal of the Basque employers. The president of the association, Antonio Garamendi, told the Spanish chain Antena 3 that they will continue their approach: “There have been eleven major agreements, and this is the first time we are not here. They will know [government members]. We sat, non-stop, talking. Our view is clear. We have made it clear that this is not the time to raise the minimum wage. There will be less employment, the black economy.”

The Basque businessman, Confesbask, for her part, has said since September that care must be taken with the rise. The workers who receive the minimum wage in the CAV are people engaged in hospitality, the primary sector and domestic work, and it is these three sectors that go behind the economic recovery, which would imply an increase in the wage would “prevent” the recovery.

The social partners have repeatedly claimed that, if the European Social Charter is implemented, the minimum wage in Euskal Herria should be EUR 1,200.