With a proposed salary increase of 0.3% in 10 years, the Portuguese government has annoyed the public service. In fact, the employees of the public administration of Portugal are currently carrying out a national strike, the first of the current legislature of Antonio Costa, and are organizing a demonstration in Lisbon this Friday with the different trade union organizations of the CGTP and the UGT. They anticipate strong support for the demonstrations and indicate that the various public services, such as administrations and waste collection, are strongly impacted by the staff strike, which has been going on since midnight and which will officially end this evening at the same time. The big national demonstration will start at 2.30 p.m. from Place Marquês de Pombal and many public workers from across the country plan to go there. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the civil service strike in Portugal.
Strong strike in public services in Portugal for the revaluation of wages
Thousands of protesters expected
"We are expecting thousands of workers at the demonstration in Lisbon, coming from all over the country," explains the coordinator of the Common Front of Trade Unions of the CGTP public administration, Ana Avoila. To take part in the national demonstration, which begins this afternoon at 2.30 p.m. from Marquês de Pombal Square in Lisbon, a strike notice was issued from 12 noon to midnight today "which covers all civil servants", therefore "the day will be a day of massive strike and hundreds of public services across the country will close, "said the union member.
The adhesion of school officials but also of teachers and educators "will be strong", since the National Teachers' Federation (Fenprof) called for a strike the same day to strengthen the mobilization of the education sector for the demonstration, says the union leader.
A "significant impact" is also expected on health, with a minimum service in hospitals, as well as the adhesion of agents of the local administration, namely the collection of waste, explains José Abraão, head of the Federation of Trade Unions public administration (Fesap), one of the UGT organizations that also called a strike today.
José Abraão considers that, "at the start of this legislature, the environment is favorable" for a massive public service support for the protest, because the workers are dissatisfied with the 0.3% salary update proposal presented by the government, which is "offensive" "after ten years of wage freeze following the 2008 financial crisis which seriously affected Portugal.
Unemployment rate is 0.3 % higher than same month of 2018
UGT Union Front led by the State Technical Staff Union (STE), which includes the Tax Workers Union (STI), also called a strike today, as did the National Federation of Physicians (FNAM), the National Federation of Nurses Unions (FENSE), among other organizations.
It is the first national public service strike since the current government led by António Costa took office in October, and it takes place less than a week before the final vote on the budget proposal. State 2020 (OE2020), scheduled for February 6.
0.3% salary increase in 10 years
The Portuguese government has presented a 0.3% salary increase proposal for the public service and even ended negotiations, but the responsible minister, Minister Alexandra Leitão, again called on the trade unions to reopen the process negotiation. A meeting is also scheduled for February 10, after the OE2020 vote.
This decision was not enough to stop the strike, the minister declared that "the aim of scheduling this negotiation with the unions is not to induce them to cancel the strike" which, according to him, "is a fully respected right" . The previous Portuguese public service strike, which brought together the trade union federations of the CGTP and UGT sectors, took place on February 15, 2019, against the salary policy of the executive, and had more than 80%, according to the unions.
In 2019, there was no revaluation of wages, but the government decided to raise the minimum remuneration of civil servants from 600 euros (equivalent to the value of the national minimum wage that year) to 635.07 euros gross monthly.
