The Government is considering a salary increase of 3.5% for civil servants, according to the unions

The Ministry of Finance is considering a salary increase for public employees of 3.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
28 September 2022 Wednesday 11:45
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The Government is considering a salary increase of 3.5% for civil servants, according to the unions

The Ministry of Finance is considering a salary increase for public employees of 3.5% for 2023, as union sources have confirmed to Efe. The figure would be the starting point in the meeting that the CSIF, CCO and UGT unions will hold this afternoon with the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration to begin negotiating the updating of public salaries.

If an agreement is reached, the increase must be reflected in the General State Budgets (PGE) for the next financial year. However, from the Treasury they do not confirm figures because the negotiation is open.

UGT and CCOO have advanced that their objective in the negotiation is to close a multi-year agreement that allows the maintenance and recovery of the purchasing power of public employees, which would include reviewing the 2% salary increase approved for this year. A percentage that is far from the current inflation rate of 10.5%. Likewise, they will also try to close an agreement for the implementation of a 35-hour working day, as well as the introduction of improvements in access to public employment and in the career, promotion and personal classification.

For its part, the CSIF union maintains that updating public salaries to recover the purchasing power lost in recent years should be an example for the private sector. He stressed that public workers "have been contributing to the income agreement since 2010 when their salaries were lowered for the first time and they have suffered a loss of purchasing power of close to 20%". For their part, UGT and CCOO warn that they will not allow the "constant loss" of purchasing power of public employees.

The energy crisis and the war in Ukraine have pushed inflation rates to a three-decade high, significantly depleting household purchasing power. A situation that, in turn, revives demands for wage increases. In this sense, the Government has on the table the challenge of reaching an income pact that cushions, in part, the blow of inflation but in a contained way to prevent prices from continuing to skyrocket.