United Front says joining the strike clearly shows dissatisfaction and encourages new struggle

The coordinator of the Common Front said this Friday that the approximately 90% support for the civil servants’ strike “is a good reflection” of workers’ dissatisfaction and foresees new forms of struggle if the government “does not listen to the protest.”

At a press conference in which he gave his final assessment of this day of the general strike of public servants, Sebastian Santana said that participation in the strike had covered the entire country and all sectors, with the records of schools as well as central services being closed. health, courts, financial services, Social Security Institute, municipal services and municipal companies.

Across the country, he noted, there are still several civilian shops, monuments, museums and archaeological sites closed or intermittent, as well as several hospitals providing only minimal services.

Also in the autonomous region of the Azores, he said, schools are closed on almost all the islands of the archipelago, and hospitals in Terceira, Faial and Sao Miguel provide only minimal services.

“This is a big, big strike of public administration workers, one of the largest we have seen in recent years, with a membership level of about 90% in public administration,” emphasized Sebastian Santana, believing that this result is a “mirror.” what’s going on” and the measures that the government has taken, namely “in this government budget” which includes a wage increase proposal that is “making” civil servants “poor”.

The Common Front coordinator also warned that “of course” “the fight will not stop here” if “the government does not listen to today’s protest,” given that the executive “has the time, space and financial resources to turn around and sit down.” at the negotiating table.”

“Today’s fight has been clear, and we, of course, will not stop there if the government continues this trend of impoverishment of workers and public administration services,” he emphasized.

The date of this strike, he noted, “was not set by chance,” saying he hoped that as the OE2024 proposal was approved, there might be opportunities to increase planned pay increases for government employees. .

“If nothing happens, there will be a repetition of what has already happened in the past,” Sebastian Santana said, alluding to the strike that the Common Front called at the beginning of 2023 and an interim wage increase.

The Common Front coordinator also said that negotiations to revise the Civil Service Evaluation System (Siadap), “which is an evaluation system that leaves civil servants stagnant,” are an “open door” for the government to come to the negotiating table. sit down with the unions again and put forward a proposal that will make up for the loss of purchasing power in a situation where the cost of living and interest rates are rising.

The General Front of Civil Service Trade Unions (CGTP) announced a national workers’ strike on October 9, which is taking place today, deeming the government’s proposal for a wage increase for 2024 “pathetic.”

Next year, the minimum wage for public administration employees is planned to increase by 52 euros or 3%. The common front demands a wage increase of at least 15%, a minimum of €150 per worker, to counter the “brutal rise in the cost of living”.