Friday, March 29

Congress approves a 3.5% increase in the salary of deputies and chamber workers

The Table of Congress has approved this Thursday its Budget for 2023, which includes the forecast of raising the salary of deputies by 3.5%, an increase in line with that proposed by the Government for public employees. The decision has been adopted with the support of the representatives of the PSOE and the deputy of United We Can, Gloria Elizo, while those of PP and Vox have voted against.

As reported by parliamentary sources, both the vice president four, Ignacio Gil Lázaro, of Vox, and the secretary four, the popular Adolfo Suárez, have argued that they could not support the Budget without knowing what exact percentage of the increase was going to be transferred to the staff of the Chamber, given that the Government continues to negotiate this point with the civil service unions.

The approved document includes the aforementioned increase forecast of 3.5% but, as usual, the final increase will be adapted to the percentage that ends up being agreed upon in that Treasury negotiation with the union centrals.

Neither the second vice president, the popular Ana Pastor, on medical leave, nor the other two representatives of United We Can in the governing body have attended the meeting of the Congress Table: the first secretary, Gerardo Pisarello – who has opted for participate in an act held at the same time in Congress in support of Lula da Silva’s candidacy to become president of Brazil again -, nor the fourth secretary, Javier Sánchez Serna.

Before the Table adopted this decision, both the Vox spokesman, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, and the deputy spokesman for Ciudadanos, Edmundo Bal, had advanced their rejection of a possible increase in the salary of the deputies for 2023.

The Senate Board has also given its approval this Thursday to its Budget for next year, which has gone ahead with the support of the PSOE and the PNV and the rejection of the PP representatives in this body. The salary increase forecast for senators and the staff of that Chamber is also 3.5%.

Prior to the meetings held by the Tables of each Chamber, both institutions have held a joint meeting in Congress to approve the budget of the Cortes Generales, which includes common expenses and those of bodies dependent on Parliament such as the Ombudsman or the Central Electoral Board (JEC). In this case, PP and Vox have also voted against.



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