The position was expressed through the “shadow government” of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which also defends salary increases for the remaining Angolan workers.
At the press conference, the Prime Minister of the "Shadow Government", Raul Taty, said that the increases will not only help alleviate “the financial burden on workers and their families”, but will also stimulate domestic consumption, thus boosting economic activity and contributing to the country's sustainable growth.
Raul Taty stressed that “it is crucial that these salary increases are accompanied by measures that promote productivity and competitiveness, thus ensuring long-term sustainability”.
“Therefore, we urge government authorities, companies and unions to collaborate in the formulation and implementation of policies that guarantee sustainable fair wage increases, aimed at the well-being of workers and the economic progress of Angola as a whole”, he highlighted.
The same UNITA official said that the party's concern is great regarding the current socio-economic situation in Angola and, very particularly, about an imminent general strike by workers, as recently announced by the trade unions.
“It is necessary for social consultation, based on honest dialogue, to be permanent and regular in the country, not only to negotiate salaries, but also to demand from workers a more efficient work posture that promotes productivity gains capable of boosting economic growth ”, he declared.
According to Raul Taty, deputy to the National Assembly, in 2023 Angolans witnessed “another slippage in the Angolan economy, as a direct result of measures of an eminently electoral nature taken in 2022, an election year”.
“This slippage was particularly evident in the foreign exchange market, where a sharp depreciation of the Kwanza was observed, namely 38.8 percent against the USD [dollar] and 36.8 percent against the euro. The exchange rate reached historically high levels, with the dollar ending the year quoted at 828.776 kwanzas while the euro was quoted at 908.227 kwanzas”, he described.
Last month, union centrals announced a general strike in the public sector for March, considering that the Government “turned a deaf ear [and] belittled” the proposal for a salary increase of around 250 percent.
“The strike will take place in March, we have reserved the month of February for all preparatory acts, because our strike will have to be very organized, with the greatest scope possible, we hope for 100 percent participation in the strike in March”, he informed , in January, the general secretary of the Central General of Independent and Free Unions of Angola (CGSILA), Francisco Jacinto.
The leader of CGSILA said that the decision came about due to a lack of consensus with the Angolan executive, referring that the notebook of demands sent to João Lourenço, on September 5, 2023, “was ignored by the authorities”.
The general strike in the public sector is a decision of the CGSILA, the National Union of Workers of Angola – Trade Union Confederation (UNTA-CS) and Força Sindical.
CGSILA, UNTA-CS and Força Sindical sent, on September 5, 2023, a memorandum to the President of the Republic, in which 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, in December, at the end of a negotiating round, that the unions' salary proposal was “unrealistic and completely out of the ordinary”.
