Public workers will earn a maximum of 0.5% more from January of this year as a result of the inflation rate that is still being recorded. The 'paguilla' affects some 3.5 million employees dependent on the different administrations. The General Negotiation Table of the Public Service agreed to pay this extra if the sum of the harmonized CPI for 2022 and the advance CPI for September 2023 exceeds 6%. It has happened, according to figures published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE), and the Government is obliged to comply.
The intention of the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, according to negotiation sources, is to pay this extra 0.5% to employees dependent on the General Administration of the State. What the agreement does not contemplate is when this payment will become effective with retroactive effects.
The department directed by María Jesús Montero will follow the appropriate procedures: the first thing is that the INE has to officially communicate the advance CPI data. Next, it is necessary for the Monitoring Committee of the framework agreement for a 21st century administration to meet and, finally, it is essential to raise the additional 0.5% salary increase to the Council of Ministers.
In the regional and local administrations, those responsible will be those responsible for specifying the salary improvement. The agreement contemplated that the increase would be a maximum of 0.5%, so that in the negotiations the amount of the payroll update must be specified.
The CCOO and UGT unions had already requested a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and Public Function a few weeks ago to address this salary increase that they expected to receive in the October payroll. The agreement also included a fixed salary increase of 2.5%, which has already been applied this year.
What was confirmed today may not be the last salary increase for public employees this year. Another variable improvement of another 0.5% is planned for 2023 if GDP grows by 2.1% on average. According to the forecasts of the Government and organizations such as the Bank of Spain, the IMF, the OECD and the Airef, this forecast is achievable. However, both the banking supervisor and the auditor warned last week of a slowdown in growth that will occur sooner and deeper than expected.
