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Spain will discuss rise in the minimum wage next week

Catania (Italy), Jun 23 (EFE) .- (Camera: Álvaro Padilla) Spain's Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, will meet with the country's PM Pedro Sánchez next week to "make a decision" on a possible increase this year in the minimum wage and convene the social dialogue table.FOOTAGE AND SOUNDBITES BY SPAIN'S MINISTER OF LABOR AND SOCIAL ECONOMY, YOLANDA DÍAZ AT THE BENEDICTINE MONASTERY OF SAN NICOLÒ L'ARENA, CATANIA, ITALYTRANSLATION"Once we have the experts' report, it is time for me to meet with the president to make a decision and also convene the social dialogue table," the minister explained in an interview with Efe in Catania (Sicily, southern Italy ), where he participates in the meeting of labor ministers of the G20 under the Italian presidency.Our position is known, but the Government will decide," said Díaz, who has hoped that the Executive will overcome their differences to prevent the "worst hit" groups from continuing to suffer "a loss of purchasing power.""Let's think that the CPI is at 2.7%, we have skyrocketing prices for electricity and other basic products. Faced with the average increases in collective agreements, that is, workers who have a social protection network, in this case, the collective agreement, which grows between 1.5% and 1.8%, it is very striking that we leave those who need it most with this protection ", she argued."From the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy and from Unidos Podemos we have it clear: it would not be understood that, precisely in a huge crisis, from which we cannot get out with more inequality, we would make a policy that certainly does not benefit those who most benefit. they need, she added.Regarding the labor reform, Díaz has reiterated that the social agents and his Ministry are working "intensely" to reach an agreement before December 31 and promote an "ambitious, comprehensive, deep labor market reform" that addresses "deficits. structural "and shortcomings, such as job insecurity or difficult access to a job for women and young people."The way out we seek will be the result of social dialogue. We are going to have all kinds of reforms, from the contracting modalities, moving towards their stable character, to the internal flexibility mechanism that has worked excellently in the crisis, the ERTEs with structural character, going through collective bargaining ", she pointed out.Asked if she would be willing to maintain the contract for work or service for the CEOE employer to join the agreement, Díaz has asked to "let the social agents work", although she has clarified that the Supreme Court has already warned that it " it is one of the very great contracting modalities that are mainly used fraudulently "."We are talking about more than 8 million contracts for specific work and service", almost always "practicing law fraud", she has pointed out.For Díaz it is essential that in Spain "the contract par excellence is the stable one", although there must be temporary contracts, but provided that the companies justify "why someone is made a temporary contract".The third vice president has stated that "it is likely that there are sectors" that after September 30, when the ERTE extension expires, will continue to need "this support", a mechanism that "is working perfectly" during the pandemic months."Before September we will sit down again and we will study again which sectors need this support," she stressed.Although she has not wanted to go into detail about unemployment in June, she has forecast that the data will be "moderately positive".Finally, Díaz stressed that the high prices of the electricity bill are one of the biggest problems suffered by "a very important part of the population" and that the Government is adopting "very courageous measures", such as "acting on the so-called benefits fallen from the sky "that enter the electrical ones.Lowering the value added tax (VAT) from the current 21% to 10%, a decision that will be adopted on Thursday in the Council of Ministers, is a "relevant" step, but "not enough" for Díaz, who has defended "intervene in a structural way in the electricity pricing model".