Amid the crossfire between the Ministry of Labor and the Spanish employers' association CEOE over the blocking of the social dialogue table for improving workplace safety, Pedro Sánchez chose to preside over the signing of an agreement between the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration and two of the largest civil servants' unions, UGT and CSIF, to raise salaries by more than 2% by 2028 (inclusive). "These are the agreements that legitimize government action," Sánchez argued this Thursday during the closing ceremony. He also stated that steps like this are what "guarantee stability and the ability to look to the long term." Finally, CCOO did not join the agreement. The truth is that Sánchez found in this Thursday's event with union representatives the only lifeline with which to boast about his government's management, but above all, its stability. His remarks came shortly after Congress rejected the deficit and debt targets, a necessary step before drafting the state budget, with Junts, PP, and Vox voting against them. They also coincided with the Supreme Court's decision to send former Socialist minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García to prison. because of the corruption case that has cornered the executive and, in particular, the PSOE.

The Spanish government makes a move in negotiations to raise public sector wages and proposes a salary increase. of 10% for the period 2025 - 2028According to statements made to the media by the UGT union this Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Administration and the main civil servants' unions met again this Wednesday to negotiate an increase in public sector salaries, and they intend to meet again on Thursday. However, the proposal from the ministry, headed by Óscar López (PSOE), has not convinced the unions due to its fine print. Specifically, the Ministry of Public Administration is proposing a cumulative increase of 10%, but between 2025 (when the increase should be retroactive, according to the unions) and 2026, it cannot exceed 4%. Thus, salaries would rise by 2% this year and another 2% next year. The remaining salary increase would be applied gradually starting in 2027. "For UGT, this percentage complicates the negotiations because purchasing power must be guaranteed," said Isabel Araque, general secretary of UGT Public Services, in statements to the media. Regarding the protests, Araque declined to say whether or not they would resume "out of good faith" and indicated that the union would wait to see what the Civil Service puts on the table at tomorrow's meeting. However, he reiterated that the unions "never" ruled out any scenario for protests. Meanwhile, CCOO considers the Spanish government's proposal "completely unacceptable" and states that it is an "insult" to public employees. The union asserted that it will only accept a salary proposal that guarantees the recovery of purchasing power and threatened to resume calling for a general strike in December "if there is no fair economic proposal." For its part, the CSIF union believes that this initial offer from the government "would not cover" the rise in prices, since year-on-year inflation was 3.1% up to October of this year. "The first two years of the agreement would mean a loss of purchasing power for public employees, and therefore we cannot accept it," insists CSIF, adding that, out of a sense of responsibility, they will continue negotiating with the Spanish government. "It must be taken into account that since 2022, the date of the last agreement, salaries have devalued by 8%, and since 2010, when the salary reduction occurred, with this year's cuts, the loss amounts to almost 20%," argues Miguel Borra from the union, "there is a spending cap, and therefore there is room to increase the offer." Although the Spanish government does not yet have a draft of the 2026 national budget on the table, for public sector workers this cannot be an impediment to agreeing on a new salary increase. Civil servants have been pressing for days and even They all threatened to call a general strikeAs CCOO had already pointed out, part of the discontent stemmed from the ministry's dismissal of the possibility of increasing public sector salaries in 2025, citing the lack of a state budget. The current agreement was implemented in 2022 and expired in December 2024. Since then, salaries have been frozen.

The Spanish government does not yet have a draft national budget for 2026. However, for public sector workers, this cannot be an obstacle to agreeing on a new salary increase for 2025. Normally, these salary increases are included in new public accounts. Civil servants have been pressuring Pedro Sánchez's government for days to take action – the main unions representing civil servants (CCOO, UGT, and CSIF) They have threatened a general strike This December—. For now, they have managed to get negotiations to resume this Wednesday with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, under the leadership of Óscar López (PSOE).

Since July 2008, when the possibility of accessing age-based leave in the Catalan Parliament was created, 62 requests have been granted for this special regime that allows staff to get paid without working. According to data delivered by Parliament in the framework of the freedom of information requests made by ARA, seven were authorised during the speakership of Ernest Benach, when the special system began, and from here they have increased exponentially: fourteen were awarded under Núria de Gispert, eleven under Carme Forcadell and up to eighteen under Roger Torrent. During this 2021, with Laura Borràs as Speaker, 12 have been granted although they have been temporarily suspended, as the board decided to put an end to this system and is studying whether it can revert them. The decision comes after the ARA uncovered that Parliament allocates €1.7m per year to pay 21 officials who no longer work there.

Two former secretaries general of the Parliament of Catalonia and nineteen other officials of the chamber receive almost 100% of their salaries despite the fact that they no longer work there. This is a special regime called "age leave" that exists only for workers of Catalonia's Parliament since 2008. It is an unprecedented privilege that has no comparison in the common private market or in the administration of the Generalitat, and that until now could be requested when workers reached the age of 60 and had worked for over fifteen years in the parliamentary administration. They then receive this pay until they reach official retirement age. ARA has learnt from a freedom of information request made in April last year and recently answered, up to 21 former officials are covered by this system, with a salary totalling €1.7m per year (see graph).