The Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, has rejected this Tuesday to carry out an extraordinary update of the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) before the end of the year, as UGT had been demanding in light of the rise in inflation. At the same time, he has announced that the dialogue table to set the SMI corresponding to 2027 will be launched after the summer.
"I believe that the circumstances for that semiannual and extraordinary review are not present," Pérez Rey stated during the press conference called to present the registered unemployment data and Social Security affiliation for the month of July.
The Secretary of State has indicated that he shares with UGT the concern to prevent workers from seeing their purchasing power diminished as a result of rising prices. However, he has pointed out that the current rise in inflation does not reach a sufficiently significant level, when compared to the increase in the SMI already approved for 2026, to support an additional review in this fiscal year.
Furthermore, Pérez Rey has emphasized that the Executive is "practically facing the last quarter of the year" and has explained that the negotiation process for the next increase in the minimum wage, corresponding to 2027, will be addressed after the summer period.
In any case, he has reiterated that the evolution of prices will be a central element in that debate. "It is obvious that the evolution of inflation will have to be taken into account in the next negotiation process for the SMI 2027," he concluded.