Government begins process to calculate Catalan minimum wage

The Catalan government has approved the beginning of the necessary process to estimate the minimum Catalan wage of reference, which will take into account the cost of living and wage equity.

The agreement will commission the department of economy, as well as the ministry of work, social affairs and families, to compile a report and give a figure to a reference minimum Catalan wage, with the results to be presented in a maximum of three months.

Once these results are known, the labor relations council will be convened to initiate a consultation process that will allow the creation of a minimum wage in Catalonia different to the rest of Spain, as the government considers Spain’s minimum salary "insufficient".

For the government, the Spanish minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) does not take into account the differences in the cost of living that exists between its different territories, which translates into situations of poverty where life is more expensive.

Pere Aragonès, vice president of Catalonia and economy minister, insisted that "the Spain-wide minimum payment levels generate inequality", but also admitted that Catalonia does not have the capacity to legislate on the matter.

He also assured that this assignment to the ministries is not only to estimate a figure, but also to research on the economic and social impact that a new Catalan minimum salary could have.

Non-binding

The minimum wage standards will be launched although the only administration that has the power to set a binding one is the Spanish one (as of 2019, it is 900 euros per month).