The Spanish government began negotiations with the unions on Wednesday for a public sector pay raise, pressured by the mobilizations that began last week. The union reiterated at the table that since 2010, public sector workers have accumulated a 20% loss in purchasing power. The ministry has committed to holding weekly meetings to expedite the negotiations. The ministry wants to finalize the freeze for 2025 and agree on pay increases starting in 2026, with a differentiated portion for the year 2025. The Ministry of Public Function met with the main civil service unions to begin talks with two main objectives. Forced by the situation, the ministry has decided to change its mind and start salary negotiations outside of the budget.
This retracts its initial position of maintaining the salary freeze until new state budgets are approved. The government tried to pass the pressure to the opposition to get them to approve its budget, but this possibility is fading day by day due to the executive's parliamentary isolation. The unions started a calendar of mobilizations last week with the threat of a major general strike at the end of the year. Conversely, the civil service unions are demanding that the 2025 pay increase be applied retroactively. The unions are threatening the government with a civil service strike if salaries are not raised.
The unions denounce that the Ministry of Public Function is blocking collective bargaining and are preparing a calendar of mobilizations that could end in a year-end strike. This retroactive character is important, as if it were incorporated into the increase for 2026, public sector workers would lose the entire portion of the salary corresponding to 2025. That the agreement is reached quickly and is established for the next three years (2026-2028). In addition to salary issues, other matters will be addressed, such as public sector job openings or the acceleration of the stabilization process.
«The speed and agility will depend on all parties, both on what the government puts on the table, and on the contributions we make as the union organizations,» stated Isabel Araque, general secretary of UGT Servicios Públicos, after the meeting. «Our concern is that the economic proposal, at a minimum, corrects this year's CPI and contemplates additional funds to correct retributive inequalities between administrations, as well as to recover purchasing power,» explained Francisco Lama, secretary of union action for CSIF. «As soon as possible,» specified ministry sources.
Although the ministry has not entered into details of the amounts, it has proposed a formula similar to previous years: a fixed annual increase and a variable one depending on the performance of the economy and inflation, so as not to lose purchasing power. The starting point between the government and the workers is very far apart, because salaries are frozen in this year 2025 despite the average inflation being at 2.6%. The first meeting will be next Tuesday, and from that moment on, every Wednesday.
