The CCOO union presented a report on Wednesday which indicates that there was an 11.1% increase in average salary in the Balearics between 2014 and 2018.
Based on Tax Agency data, the report shows that this increase was well above the national figure of 7.5%, while employment in the Balearics rose 17.5%, compared with 11.8% at national level. The 2014-2018 salary increase in the Balearics was the highest among all Spain's regions.
José Luis García, the CCOO general secretary in the Balearics, said that collective bargaining had influenced the salary rise and had driven job creation. He observed that in 2014 there was economic stagnation and that the union is always concerned about inequality. So the increase up to 2018 was an improvement it wished "to highlight". "It is obvious that if workers are paid more, they will spend more and, as a consequence, create more jobs."
Yolanda Calvo, the CCOO's secretary for occupation and training, drew attention to the increase in women's salaries over the 2014-2018 period. The average was 18.7%, which was 4.7% more than the national average. She also noted that the highest increase in the general payroll (up 51%) was among the under-25s. However, the average gross salary of this group was 7,888 euros per annum, the consequence of so many low-paid jobs and temporary working.
Construction and real-estate activities were responsible for a 30.1% increase in the number of salaried workers; this was the highest among all sectors of the economy. By contrast, there was an 8.6% drop in the agriculture, livestock and fishing sector.
García and Calvo concluded by saying that despite there being a climate of composure in negotiations involving unions, the regional government and business, it was necessary to continue the fight against temporary working and job insecurity.