Amidst high inflation and the possibility of an economic slowdown, thousands of workers in Spain took to the streets on Thursday demanding higher wages. The Spanish economy has been witnessing high inflation rates and consumer price index levels for the past few months.
The protest marches which happened on the streets of the capital, Madrid was organized by major trade unions in the country, UGT, and CCOO. Members of UGT and CCOO walked down the streets of Madrid shouting the slogan “Salary or Conflict”.
The workers and the labor unions are demanding a hike in the minimum wages as they are finding it tough to match expenses with income in the current economic situation. The minimum wage is currently posted at 1000 Euros in Spain.
High inflation rates and an increase in the consumer price index had increased the prices of essential commodities which are used by Spaniards daily. This triggered a living cost crisis that can only be solved by a reduction in prices or a salary increase. As inflation is showing slow deceleration, common working-class people have no other choice but to demand higher pay.
Economists and market analysts had earlier predicted that the deceleration of Inflation would not be as fast as how it went up. This is due to the deep impact of inflation on the domestic economy of a country.
Carmen Troyano, a 55-year-old protestor said that due to current unfortunate incidents, prices of commodities have gone up and he is finding it difficult to cover basic needs with the current salary level. According to Caritas, a catholic charity organization, three out of ten families in Spain do not have enough financial resources to have a dignified living conditions.
The president of Spain’s CEOE business owners association, which negotiates with labor unions and the government on salaries, said there could be raises as long as they weren’t indexed directly to inflation.
The energy crisis caused by the Russian special military operation in Ukraine triggered an increase in the prices of fuel. The supply chain crisis which accompanied the fuel crisis made things worse for the economy of Spain, pegging inflation at historic highs. Inflation in Spain peaked this summer at 10.8% in July and moderately slowed to 7.3% in October.
