According to the general secretary of the Central Geral de Sindicatos Independentes e Livres de Angola (CGSILA), Francisco Jacinto, the change in the date of the provincial assemblies called to declare the strike, initially scheduled for February 15, was decided at a recent meeting of trade unions.
Luanda, the Angolan capital, should hold its assembly on March 9th, with the announcement of the general strike scheduled for the 14th of the same month and one day later (March 15th) the general strike of Angolan workers should come into force.
Union centrals announced, on January 26, 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 general secretary of CGSILA, who spoke at a press conference at the time, said that the decision was made due to a lack of consensus with the executive, noting that the statement of demands was sent to the President, 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 União Nacional dos Trabalhadores de Angola – Confederação Sindical (UNTA-CS) and Força Sindical.
CGSILA, UNTA-CS and Força Sindical sent, on September 5, 2023, a memorandum to the President, João Lourenço, demanding 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".
The Government is preparing a counterproposal to submit to the unions for consideration, a union source told Lusa this Thursday.
