The general secretary of Spain’s main CC.OO. union , Unai Sordo, has warned that there will be a series of protests in the coming months if companies do not raise workers’ wages: “Comisiones Obreras will not accept that Spain’s strong macroeconomic performance is appropriated solely by companies”.
Sordo said it is necessary to “distribute wealth” through wages and through public services. He said that the union ‘has put forward a proposal for a wage increase of between 4 and 7 per cent in all collective agreements’ and that employers are not responding to these demands. ‘Companies in Spain are raking in more profits than ever, higher margins than ever, and it is a matter of fighting for those profits. And we are going to do so,’ he added.
The general secretary added that the average wage increases in the latest approved collective agreements allow workers to regain purchasing power, but that the distribution of wages “was taking place in a very unequal manner”, meaning that some workers are facing financial difficulties.
Asked about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to introduce one day of teleworking per week to reduce fuel consumption, Sordo said they would urge the Government to open a social dialogue forum to address the issue through tripartite negotiations.
“It doesn’t sound bad at first glance; as I said, some of the measures we have proposed are along similar lines, but what we are saying is that we need to look at them closely, because with these things the devil is in the detail. It may sound very good in theory, but we need to see exactly what is being proposed,” he added.
He called for any tax cuts intended to mitigate the impact of the conflict in the Middle East to be accompanied by price controls to prevent them from leading to increased margins and corporate profits ‘without reducing prices by the same proportion’.
Meanwhile, regarding the process of regularising immigrants, Sordo described it as ‘wonderful news’, as it reduces the vulnerability of workers. He said that ‘lies, hoaxes, insidious behaviour and institutional racism cannot be used against these immigrants’ and called for an end to linking immigration with crime.