Sánchez confirms the minimum wage increase and criticizes employers for their absence

MadridThe last time Pedro Sánchez ratified an increase in the national minimum wage (SMI) was in 2020, from the Moncloa Palace, following an agreement with the major unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish employers' associations, CEOE and Cepyme. Six years later, Sánchez has once again presided over another minimum wage increase. This time, he did so from the Ministry of Labor, alongside the Minister, Yolanda Díaz (Sumar), and the two union leaders, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT), but without the employers' associations, with whom Sánchez did not hesitate to distance himself. The Spanish president criticized the employers' associations for withdrawing from the agreement to raise the SMI to €1,221 per month by 2026. "Where are the employers?" the Spanish president asked this Monday at the signing ceremony for the new increase. "It is unacceptable that in a context of economic prosperity, those earning the minimum wage are scrutinized while those earning a lot of money are not," Sánchez said. On the eve of negotiations between unions and employers to update the current agreement for employment and collective bargaining (AENC), the Spanish president endorsed the position. "Pay them more!""From Joe Biden four years ago. "Let them pay more," he said. "Let no one tell us that salaries can't be raised when profits grow, when the economy is advancing," Sánchez reiterated.

Darts within the PP

The signing of the agreement to raise the minimum wage to €1,221 gross per month has also served the Spanish government to boast about its economic model and counter that of the People's Party (PP). "We come from a country where the PP looked down on working people; a country that froze the minimum wage at €735 per month; a country that made a banner of working poverty," denounced Díaz, who summarized the foundations of the PP's economic policy as "deregulating, dismantling, and leaving workers unprotected." In contrast to this model, the Spanish government defends its own: "We are the government of working people," stated the Minister of Labor, who envisioned that they will continue to be so.

The Spanish executive has long clung to measures such as the minimum wage increase to defend its policies of recent years. But especially now, as it goes through a difficult period: not only because of the rise of the right and far right, which is eroding the power of the PSOE and Sumar in those regions where elections are being held, but also because of the fragile relationship with the investiture bloc. In fact, Monday's event even brought a truce to the tension that has plagued the two coalition government partners, PSOE and Sumar, for days. Ministers from both parties, who have recently clashed over housing measures to lower rental prices, attended the signing.

Bipartite Agreement

The agreement to raise the minimum wage in 2026 was reached last January with the approval of the CCOO and UGT unions, but with the rejection of Spanish employers' associations. It means setting the minimum wage at 1,221 euros gross per month in 14 payments3.1% more than in 2025 (an increase of 37 euros per month). This is the eighth increase since Pedro Sánchez took office.

Although the Spanish government attempted to reach a tripartite agreement with tax incentives for the companies most affected by the increase, employers' associations distanced themselves. They even labeled the tax measure a "sleight of hand" and "interventionist."

The leaders of CCOO and UGT, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, also criticized employers for not joining the agreement. They also reminded the Spanish government of its outstanding obligations. The major unions have long been demanding that salary supplements be legally protected so that they are not rendered meaningless by increases in the minimum wage.