Workers suffering brunt of internal devaluation

The average monthly salary in Spain last year was 1,630 euros, 15.3 percent below the equivalent figure for the European Union, according to a study by temporary employment agency Adecco and consultant Barceló y Asociados.

The average in Spain last year was up 0.5 percent on the previous year. However, taking inflation into account, workers suffered a fall in their purchasing power of 1.9 percent.

The downward trend in purchasing power continued at the start of this year. The consumer price index in April was up an annual 1.4 percent, compared with an average increase in salaries through collective agreements of 0.6 percent.

“We cannot continue to depress the spending power of people as a result of the combination of an increase in taxes, regulated prices and downward pressure on nominal salaries, without incurring the enhanced risk of further erosion of the economy, and, therefore, employment,” the secretary general of the CCOO labor union, Ignacio Fernández Toxo, said at a seminar on Wednesday.

CCOO and UGT reached a pact on wage and company margin constraint with the country’s main employer groups last year. However, as the Bank of Spain has pointed out, the brunt of Spain’s internal devaluation to improve competitiveness has fallen on workers’ salaries, with little sign of moderation in company profits.