The United Front of Civil Service Unions today demanded a pay rise of at least 15%, a minimum of €150, for all workers starting in January 2024.
“Our proposal is very different from what was presented this morning. […] This is an increase of 15%” for all workers, said the leader of the Common Front, Sebastian Santana, speaking to journalists in Lisbon this Wednesday.
The Common Front associated with the CGTP approved the final text of the defense proposal at its summit this Wednesday, after which it held a meeting in front of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, followed by a trip to the official residence of the Prime Minister. Minister Antonio Costa.
The United Front proposal calls for an increase in the minimum wage in public administration to 920 euros from January and to 1,000 euros in 2024.
According to Sebastian Santana, the proposal is “fair and entirely feasible”, reversing the path of loss of purchasing power that “applied in the impoverishment agreement signed last year and which the government wants to continue.”
On 24 October 2022, the Government, the Federation of State and Public Service Unions (FESAP) and the Trade Union Front, coordinated by the State and Public Service Technical Staff Union (STE), signed a multidisciplinary agreement. Annual agreement on advanced training of public administration employees.
“We are ready to negotiate. Negotiations began today, and we already have new meetings scheduled. What we are not prepared to discuss is how poor workers will become. It’s out of the question. We demand the restoration of the purchasing power of government employees, who lost 5.1% of their purchasing power from April last year to April this year,” he said.
The United Front leader also said he believed in the “good faith of the negotiations,” but stressed that the state administration would not continue to accept the loss of money, working without ruling out the possibility of moving forward to new forms of struggle.
The workers are also demanding an adjustment to the unified pay table (STS), an increase in the monetary difference between the STU pay levels, an update of the food allowance to €10.50 and the restoration of rights arising from promotions and promotions in pay positions.
The total length of service in quarries is added, the progress in which depends on this factor, the application of special valorization measures to all employees, the replacement of quarries and the replacement of 25 days of vacation and the amount of overtime pay.
On the other hand, they want to abolish SIADAP – the Integrated Public Administration Performance Assessment System and replace it with a quota-free system, replace pre-Troika IRS levels in Portugal, and create compensation regimes.” recognizing and appreciating the specifics of professions” and updating the list of occupational diseases.
The requirements also include identifying and regulating high-cost occupations, ensuring that shift and night work can be exempted after 20 years of shift work, and deducting to the IRS expenses incurred as a result of the acquisition of equipment, such as technology information, to support the occupation.
At 4:00 p.m., more than a hundred people marched toward the Prime Minister’s official residence, shouting militant words such as “Evaluation yes, SIADAP no,” “Increasing wages is fundamental,” and “In the service sector and on the streets, the fight will continue.”
A delegation of trade unionists submitted this proposal to the Ministry of the President and the official residence of António Costa.
This Wednesday, the government proposed to increase the salaries of public administration employees by about 52 euros or 2% in 2024, thus maintaining the values provided for in the agreement signed a year ago, Sebastian Santana said this morning, after finally meeting with the Presidential Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva in Lisbon.
Speaking to reporters after the first round of negotiations with union structures, State Secretary of Public Administration Ines Ramirez said the wage increase proposal presented to unions was a “starting point” for negotiations, indicating that increases could be made through other measures.
The CGTP union has already announced its proposal to increase wages by 15% by 2024, with a minimum increase of 150 euros per worker.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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