Workers will hold simultaneous provincial assemblies next Saturday to decide what position to take if the Government maintains its decision to increase public sector salaries by 25 percent retroactively only in March. These meetings were scheduled for last Saturday, but were postponed for a week to allow the unions to better prepare.
According to the general secretary of the General Confederation of Free and Independent Trade Unions of Angola, Francisco Jacinto, in these assemblies workers must also evaluate the Government's "non-compliance" and the next steps, if the 25 percent is not reflected in February's salaries.
"We remember that the third phase of the general strike was suspended [in May 2024] and not lifted and when it is suspended it is only a mobilization to alert workers that the situation could reach extreme levels in the event of non-compliance by the Government", said the union leader this Tuesday.
Speaking to Lusa, Francisco Jacinto stressed that the trade unions are available to comply "in good faith" with the agreement signed with the Government in 2024, hoping that the executive will also do so in good faith.
But, as a preventive measure, he continued, "we are holding these meetings to communicate to employees what is happening and in the event of non-compliance we will set a date to resume the general strike."
The February payroll should determine the subsequent pasts of workers, especially if it does not reflect the 25 percent salary increase, which should come into effect from January 2025.
"We will wait to see whether or not the 25 percent cut in the payroll will be reflected in February and the workers will assess whether or not we will be in a position to move on to the third phase of the strike," said the official, pointing to March as the likely month for the general strike.
"There is no doubt that, given the non-compliance, we can lift the suspension of the general strike in March, which is why we are giving this much time," he said.
The Three-Year Agreement for the Valorization of Workers through Social Dialogue (2025-2027) was signed in May 2024, in Luanda, following a negotiation marathon lasting almost ten hours between the Government and the trade unions.
The trade union, the National Union of Angolan Workers - Trade Union Confederation (UNTA-CS) and the Força Sindical - Trade Union Central (FS-CS) were the signatories of the agreement with the Government on the update of the national minimum wage and adjustment of the public sector salary to 25 percent.
The parties committed, in this five-page agreement and with a roadmap of tasks to be implemented by 2027, that the salary review of the entire public service will take place over three years, with effect from January 2025, with an increase of 25 percent, providing for negotiations on September 30 of each year for subsequent increases.
The 25 percent adjustment in public sector salaries was scheduled to begin in January 2025, but the government postponed it until March, with retroactive effects for January and February, after the approval on January 22 of a diploma authorizing the president, João Lourenço, to legislate on the general principles for implementing the salary increase.
On Tuesday, the general secretary of the trade union also spoke of "several breaches" by the Government of the Triennial Agreement, stating that only the national minimum wage clause has been complied with.
Other clauses that were not complied with are the presence of union representatives in the assessment of the IRT review, on the INSS fiscal council, among others, concluded Francisco Jacinto.
