After 20 years of negotiations, the governments of Portugal and Angola signed an agreement that allows workers from both countries to recognize their social and labor rights, namely retirement, at the end of their employment.
The information was made public this Friday by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal.
Speaking to the Lusa agency in Luanda, Portuguese Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security Ana Méndez Godinho explained that the agreement aims to “guarantee that Portuguese workers based in Angola have the right to carry with them their rights to social protection, social provision and the same with the Angolan workers who are in Portugal.”
Ana Méndez Godinho attended the 15th meeting of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) Labor Ministers in the Angolan province of Benguela and signed an agreement called the Benguela Pledge with her Angolan counterpart Teresa Rodriguez Dias.
According to the Portuguese minister, the “historic agreement”, due to enter into force next year, will “recognize and evaluate the social protection of workers in order to recognize their rights, namely with regard to retirement.”
The Portuguese official emphasized that in this way active people will be guaranteed that their working career in Portugal or Angola will accompany them throughout their lives, “they will be able to later retire in Portugal with the rights of the years worked here, and also for Angolan workers to go to a pension in Angola with a corresponding entitlement to years worked in Portugal.”
“We have in Portugal at the moment about 26,000 Angolan workers actively participating in the social security system, so they are part of the system, in terms of the number of Portuguese workers here in Angola, our estimate is about 70,000 people who will potentially be covered as they are currently an active population working in Angola,” he said.
Ana Méndez Godinho stressed that these figures are only estimates, but the agreement ensures that “many people who cannot be covered today will be fully interested in getting some of the discounts here in Angola because it will be taken into the amount of contributions. career”.
“This agreement applies to all workers who paid for social security, whether in Portugal or in Angola. All contributions made before the conclusion and before we were able to put this agreement into effect will be covered,” said Ana Mendez Godinho, noting that it will come into force on January 1, 2024.
The Head of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security in Portugal spoke about the negotiations and diplomatic work that exists between the two ministerial departments, Portuguese and Angolan, which include technical visits between the social security authorities of Portugal and Angola.
With regard to the CPLP meeting, Ana Méndez Godinho highlighted the presence of all Portuguese-speaking Labor Ministers, who recognized the importance of mobilizing all instruments so that the CPLP Mobility Agreement effectively guarantees the rights of workers.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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