Collective bargaining has not managed to protect the purchasing power of workers, who once again see prices in the markets, supermarkets and other goods and services rise more than their payrolls.

Although when employers and unions sit down to renew a collective agreement they are sensitive to the current inflation rates and mostly agree on higher revaluations, the conditions inherited from previous years show that the negotiators underestimated the evolution of the CPI.

According to the latest data collected by the Ministry of Labor, 7.3 million employees are covered by a collective agreement in force. They represent 42% of the total number of employees, the rest either have an invalid agreement or lack one. Those who are covered by a collective document currently contemplate a salary increase of 2.8% for this year, six tenths below current inflation levels.

We will have to see how both indicators evolve. If, as new agreements are added, the salary level rises and, on the other hand, the inflation low, purchasing power will be leveled. If not, Spanish workers will experience another year in which they leave poorer than they entered.

The new collective agreements signed during this month of January were closed with references above inflation. Specifically, they recorded a salary variation of 3.7%, four tenths above the CPI. The problem, for the interests of the employees, is that these agreements renewed in January only cover 16,453 people, a minority compared to those 7.4 million employees covered by collective bargaining.

3% reference

This 2024 the Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining governs (AENC), a pact signed between the CEOE, CCOO and UGT leadership to guide salary negotiations in the different sectors. This contemplates a consensus that the salaries They should rise 3% this year.