SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
Union-led protests call for higher wages and secure employment
19/02/2017
A SERIES of demonstrations will start today (Sunday) until Thursday, February 23 calling for increasing salaries, greater job security and more quality employment.
Spain's main unions, the Labourers' Commission (CCOO), led by Ignacio Fernández Toxo, and the General Workers' Union (UGT), headed up by Pepe Álvarez have organised the protest marches which will take place in 40 towns and cities over the next five days.
They say inflation combined with salaries and pensions not rising or even reducing, along with much higher levels of temporary, short-term jobs, are increasing relative poverty in Spain.
Although the government's measures have led to an overall drop in unemployment, this has come with a rise in lower-paid, poorer-quality jobs and a much higher staff rotation with long periods in between brief, temporary work contracts, argue the CCOO and UGT, especially in parts of the country which rely heavily on seasonal industries such as tourism.
As a result, says Álvarez, poverty is no longer only the malady of the unemployed.
“Tens of thousands of families are unable to manage until their next payday, and in the meantime, the very wealthy minority are becoming richer,” he complains.
Protests taking place today will mainly be in central areas of major cities or outside government offices, with the largest expected to be in Madrid, starting from the Plaza de Neptuno and finishing in the Puerta del Sol square in the heart of the metropolitan area.
Andalucía, Galicia and Aragón are likely to be the most active, although the Canary Islands does not intend to join in.
Demonstrations on Wednesday this week will focus on regional authorities' offices and smaller towns.
Organisers will be clamouring for barriers to collective negotiation, whereby unions have a significant influence in working conditions and pay agreements, to be removed.
They say prices are going up all the time with inflation and people's income remains the same or has actually declined in recent years, meaning employees and pensioners alike are 'losing spending power'.
The CCOO and UGT also highlight 'hefty increases' experienced recently in the cost of basic utilities, particularly electricity, and point out that pensioners are now struggling more than ever since the government has only put their income up by the legal minimum of 0.25% for the last three years.
A recent step forward, however, has been an increase in the minimum wage for a full-time 40-hour week from €655 to €707 a month, with a pledge to take it up to €950 within two years.
This is the gross minimum salary, but those earning under €12,000 a year generally do not have to pay income tax.
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A SERIES of demonstrations will start today (Sunday) until Thursday, February 23 calling for increasing salaries, greater job security and more quality employment.
Spain's main unions, the Labourers' Commission (CCOO), led by Ignacio Fernández Toxo, and the General Workers' Union (UGT), headed up by Pepe Álvarez have organised the protest marches which will take place in 40 towns and cities over the next five days.
They say inflation combined with salaries and pensions not rising or even reducing, along with much higher levels of temporary, short-term jobs, are increasing relative poverty in Spain.
Although the government's measures have led to an overall drop in unemployment, this has come with a rise in lower-paid, poorer-quality jobs and a much higher staff rotation with long periods in between brief, temporary work contracts, argue the CCOO and UGT, especially in parts of the country which rely heavily on seasonal industries such as tourism.
As a result, says Álvarez, poverty is no longer only the malady of the unemployed.
“Tens of thousands of families are unable to manage until their next payday, and in the meantime, the very wealthy minority are becoming richer,” he complains.
Protests taking place today will mainly be in central areas of major cities or outside government offices, with the largest expected to be in Madrid, starting from the Plaza de Neptuno and finishing in the Puerta del Sol square in the heart of the metropolitan area.
Andalucía, Galicia and Aragón are likely to be the most active, although the Canary Islands does not intend to join in.
Demonstrations on Wednesday this week will focus on regional authorities' offices and smaller towns.
Organisers will be clamouring for barriers to collective negotiation, whereby unions have a significant influence in working conditions and pay agreements, to be removed.
They say prices are going up all the time with inflation and people's income remains the same or has actually declined in recent years, meaning employees and pensioners alike are 'losing spending power'.
The CCOO and UGT also highlight 'hefty increases' experienced recently in the cost of basic utilities, particularly electricity, and point out that pensioners are now struggling more than ever since the government has only put their income up by the legal minimum of 0.25% for the last three years.
A recent step forward, however, has been an increase in the minimum wage for a full-time 40-hour week from €655 to €707 a month, with a pledge to take it up to €950 within two years.
This is the gross minimum salary, but those earning under €12,000 a year generally do not have to pay income tax.
Related Topics
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