"We all heard yesterday (Wednesday) the minister (of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security) Teresa Dias announcing the adjustment of civil service salaries in the order of 5 percent (...). This announcement made by the Government is nothing more than a distraction maneuver, because the Government knows that there is a general strike in sight being prepared by the unions", said this Thursday the general secretary of Sinprof.
Admar Ginguma, who was reacting to the Government's announcement about the increase in the base salary for public service starting this January, understands that the announced value is an "insult and a shame, because it will be of no use" for public service workers.
For the head of Sinprof, the authorities' announcement contradicts the intention of the three Angolan trade unions, namely the Central Geral de Sindicatos Independentes e Livres de Angola (CGSILA), a União Nacional dos Trabalhadores de Angola – Confederação Sindical (UNTA-CS) and Força Sindical who demand a minimum wage of around 250 thousand kwanzas.
Ginguma recalls that CGSILA, where Sinprof is affiliated, UNTA-CS and Força Sindical, which are planning a general strike in the public sector for the end of January, demanded, in negotiations with the Government, a readjustment of around 250 percent and not 5 percent, as advertised.
"We expected that we would be called upon to present the counter-proposal, but what the Government did was make that announcement" on the same day that the unions sent "a letter to the Government stating that we were available to return to the negotiating table", he highlighted.
He also assured that the trade unions continue to mobilize public employees for the general strike: "For us, the month of January is decisive for the government to present us with a counter-proposal despite having presented that announcement", he concluded.
CGSILA, UNTA-CS and Força Sindical sent, in September 2023, a memorandum to the President, João Lourenço, where they "demand" a national minimum wage of 250 thousand kwanzas, admitting a general strike in case of an unsatisfactory response.
The Minister of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security, Teresa Dias, who coordinates negotiations with the unions, said last December, at the end of a negotiating round, that the unions' salary proposal was "unrealistic and completely out of the ordinary".
The Government approved, on Wednesday, the adjustment of the basic civil service salary by 5 percent from January 2024, within the scope of the Roadmap for the Implementation of the New Public Administration Remuneration Architecture (RINAR).
