The IMF and bosses’ war against Spanish youth

By Jose Antonio Arias

Again, for the umpteenth time the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has attacked Spanish youth and their wages, while the Spanish business lobby shouts “we told you so”.

This is the scenario: over 50% youth unemployment, the minimum wage at €645.30 (virtually frozen since 2011) and almost non-existent labour rights.

Faced with these facts the director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, concludes that “we must end youth unemployment.” So far we can all agree, but her prescription for solving the problem is poison. She proposes, as Spanish business has, to create an even lower minimum wage for workers under 35 years of age. No more no less.

That is to say, Mrs Lagarde believes that the under 35s have to be paid less than the minimum wage to qualify for a job. We do not deserve the same rights as other workers. So harsh and so…