Spain's largest supermarket chain Mercadona has agreed with labour unions to raise wages by up to 6% per year, up to 2028, the CCOO union said in a statement.
Workers will see their salary raised by the annual inflation rate up to 2.5%, the retailer said in a statement.
If the pace of inflation is higher, the company would allow wage raises that keep up with inflation only if it meets certain profitability targets, and only up to 6%.
The measure will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and run for five years, until 2028.
The company has also ensured a minimum base entry salary of €1,507 per month/gross, 20% more than the minimum interprofessional salary.
European retailers have faced growing demands from their workers for pay rises to match or surpass inflation, which remains strong despite recent declines.
Inflation
Spanish 12-month inflation fell to 3.2% in November, down from 3.5% in October as prices of fuels and basic foodstuff such as bread, eggs and cereals fell, final data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed last week.
Privately owned Mercadona, which employs more than 100,000 workers, had agreed to raise salaries by the rate of inflation last year and the year before.
The retailer said it was also committed to reducing working hours by 2025.
Mercadona's director of labour relations, Ruth García, stated that “this new agreement is the result of the effort of all the parties involved to guarantee the satisfaction of the more than 100,000 people who make up Mercadona, who are the cause of the success and growth of Mercadona – a company whose management model is based on satisfying the workers, because they are the ones who satisfy the more than 5.7 million households [...] every day.”
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
