On Wednesday, the government and the unions CC OO, UGT and CSIF finally reached an agreement to increase the salaries of 3.5 million public employees by 11% between 2025 and 2028 (both years inclusive). The remuneration agreement will be accompanied by other commitments on the part of the Executive such as the progressive elimination of the replacement rate, which limits offers of public employment to those who are due for retirement; or other improvements in terms of selection processes, working hours, professional career, retirement or work permits, as confirmed by negotiating sources.
Specifically, the increase for 2025 will be 2.5%, which will be applied retroactively from January 1st, with which the arrears from the December paychecks will be collected. In January 2026, these workers’ wages will increase by another 1.5%, so when you add both increases together, the wage increase will be a flat 4% at the beginning of next year. However, a variable 0.5% is added linked to whether the 2026 CPI is equal to or greater than 1.5% of the fixed portion for that year. In this case, this half point will predictably be paid within the first quarter of 2027 with retroactive effect from 1 January 2026 and will be deducted from the 2027 increase, which will be set for that year at 4.5% (5% if this half point is not brought forward to the previous year). In 2028 the remaining 2% will be increased.
All this will mean a cumulative increase of 11% over the four years, but taking into account the so-called dragging effect (the increase of the same amount of supplements, in addition to the basic salary), the increase in practice will rise to 11.4%, according to the unions’ calculations. This will represent an increase in purchasing power of 2.9% over this period, estimates the public employees union CSIF.
The consensus on wages came as the government agreed to introduce this variable CPI-linked half point in 2026, although it will be paid retroactively in 2027. Otherwise, unions have refused to allow that civil servants will almost certainly lose purchasing power next year as inflation is likely to exceed the 1.5% increase initially expected.
This Wednesday’s agreement represents the unblocking of a negotiation whose implementation cost the unions a lot. Indeed, the three centers began mobilisations as the summer returned and even threatened a general strike in December if the government did not sit down to discuss the pay increase for public sector workers. In the last three meetings held since last week, it was above all the wage issue that divided the unions. The public services federation UGT was the first to announce its support for the agreement, but the public sector, education and health federations of the CC OO and the public employees union CSIF only gave their support last Wednesday.
The pact they will sign will therefore be multi-annual for four years. In addition to salary improvements, it will include other points related to employment and other working conditions. The improvements include a commitment to shorten the deadlines for selection processes so that no more than a year passes from the time a job offer is made until the job is taken up (now more than two years in most cases). And professional careers will be encouraged, expanding internal promotion and mobility. To this end, the classification of positions will be adapted and specific and differentiated internal promotion processes will be implemented, promoting competitions based on merit, through the establishment of open and permanent competitions, the unions report.
Reinforcements for customer service
Among the other issues that will be included in this agreement there is also the commitment to unblock the generalization of the 35-hour day and the regulation of teleworking in the General Administration of the State. Likewise, throughout 2026 the Executive will review and increase residence and island allowances, as well as service allowances, in order to eliminate inequalities between different public employees. And salary updates for foreign staff will also be addressed.
The Government is also committed to strengthening public service personnel by adjusting the remuneration of these jobs, which require greater demands. At this point, the signatories intend to develop measures and plans to strengthen occupational health protection, with psychological support measures and measures against aggression, among others. Work permits will also be updated and other improvements regarding work conciliation will be incorporated.
Trade unions also reported that this agreement promotes measures to ensure equality and non-discrimination, as well as against sexual harassment, prevention and combating gender violence. Specifically, the CSIF proposed the creation of prevention and support plans for victims of this type of violence.
As for the pension, they also plan to make some improvements. In this regard, it is expected that the Government will facilitate the release of partial retirements for administration staff, as well as extend this retirement method to all public employees. However, to achieve this expansion it is necessary to approve it in the Public Service Law, the drafting of which is blocked in Parliament, where the chances of approving new rules are slim. This bill also provides for the extension of the working life of public employees up to 72 years of age on a voluntary basis.
In any case, the unions assure that the support they give to all these issues is not a blank check and that they will be vigilant in respecting them, through the Monitoring Commission which will be established within a maximum period of 15 days from its signature, as well as other measures to ensure its complete implementation.
