(Reuters) – Dia has agreed to pay wage increases of up to 12% over the next two years for workers at its supermarkets and warehouses in Spain, in addition to windfall bonuses for some of the lowest-paid workers, to help them cope with persistent inflation, the group and the unions said.
According to a preliminary agreement reached with the unions as part of new collective bargaining, the group will grant wage increases of between 8% and 12% for 2023 and 2024.
Employees of the group’s supermarkets and warehouses whose remuneration is less than 23,847 euros will also receive an exceptional bonus of 350 euros, while a performance bonus will be paid in 2024.
“This is a major step towards the long-term stability of the group’s transformation project in Spain,” Dia said.
The final version of the agreement is due to be signed on December 1 and the wage increases will come into effect on January 1, the CCOO union, signatory of the preliminary agreement with the UGT and Fetico unions, said in a press release.
As in the rest of Europe, unions in Spain have called for significant wage rises against a backdrop of persistent inflation and some of the unions in the distribution sector have called for increases of at least 18% to compensate for the price hike triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine.
The pace of year-on-year inflation slowed in October in Spain, with the consumer price index harmonized to European HICP standards standing at 7.3%, down from 9.0% in September, the data showed. final figures published in mid-November by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
(Report Matteo Allievi and Jakub Olesiuk; French version Myriam Rivet, edited by Sophie Louet)
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