A Catalan minimum wage: the powers that the ERC is asking to be delegated

BarcelonaTogether with the PSOE registered at the beginning of March the law that should allow the State to delegate immigration powers to CataloniaBoth groups appealed to Article 150.2 of the Constitution to implement one of the demands of Carles Puigdemont's party to continue shoring up the governability of the State. Now it is ERC (Republican Left) that also wants to invoke this constitutional precept, but in this case so that Catalonia can regulate its own minimum wage. The Republicans, in fact, have already set a figure: they want it to be raised to 1,420 euros – currently 1,184 euros across the State. The path they propose should be accompanied, argues ERC, by a change to the Workers' Statute, specifically Article 27, which specifies that it is the state government that has the power to set its figure.

Article 170 of the Statute establishes that Catalonia has "executive competence in matters of labor and labor relations." A power that should be expanded through an organic law to give the Generalitat the authority to set its own minimum wage. According to the legal experts consulted, this executive function could include issuing regulatory standards. However, this could pose constitutional problems if a conflict arises in terms of equality with the rest of the autonomous communities, or if it is questioned whether the Generalitat's executive function could also include setting a minimum wage. As usual, the scope of the delegation of this power would depend on the more or less restrictive interpretation that the Constitutional Court (CC) may make.

The flag of labor rights It's one of the options Oriol Junqueras has embraced since returning to the party's leadership. "The cost of living in Catalonia is higher, which is why we're demanding a Catalan-led and regionalized minimum wage," Laura Pelay, deputy secretary general for the labor market, economy, citizenship, and open party of the ERC, argued at a press conference on Monday. The Republicans have launched a campaign to explain the idea of a Catalan minimum wage—including the creation of a mascot called Salariet—and, to start with, they want to register a non-legislative motion in Congress and also in the Parliament so that the parliamentary groups can vote on the measure.

Parliamentary Arithmetic

The viability of the measure will largely depend on the position adopted by the Socialists. The Republicans need the support of the PSOE, but also that of Sumar, for their proposal to pass. But not only that. As this is an organic law delegating powers to the Generalitat, a simple majority is not enough; an absolute majority in the Congress of Deputies would be required. In other words, the groups that make up the plurinational majority, including Junts, would need to come together to validate this reform. The same is true, in fact, in the case of immigration powers: for the moment, Junts has not obtained the endorsement of Podemos, and it remains to be seen whether it will receive the green light from the Spanish parliament and become a reality.

Sources from Esquerra assure that they have already submitted the proposal to the Spanish government, but they also point out that it is not an issue they will use to condition the negotiations they have open with the State to comply with the investiture agreements. The Republicans' plan is to first explain their proposal to stakeholders in the social and labor community, such as unions, to build consensus outside of institutions. In this regard, the party points out that a regionalized minimum wage—that is, one differentiated by territory within a single country—already exists in countries such as Japan and Brazil.