According to Sinmea's secretary general, Pedro da Rosa, the union's management will analyze the counter-proposal made by the Government, which does not yet respond to the demands of the medical profession, declared in a 14-point claim book, submitted in September last year to the Ministry of health.
"We don't agree and, because it doesn't really satisfy us, we're going to sit down, analyze and answer. There was a tripartite meeting yesterday [Thursday], the Government made a counter-proposal to our claim sheet and that doesn't satisfy us", said Pedro da Pink.
The secretary general of Sinmea said that a 6 percent increase in the base salary was proposed and the union's management will analyze it.
Speaking to Angolan public radio this Friday, the Secretary of State for Hospital Management, Leonardo Inocêncio, highlighted some salary increases, namely the head doctor, the highest level of the category, with a net remuneration of up to 1.3 million kwanzas, against the two million kwanzas demanded by the class.
Leonardo Inocêncio also advanced that for the specialist intern doctor the value of the Government's counter-proposal was 867 thousand kwanzas, against the 1.2 million kwanzas required in the claim book.
"We are talking about a value that the class claimed limits from one million kwanzas to two million kwanzas, but that was not reached, for reasons already well known, economic situations and other externalities", he said.
In turn, the Secretary of State Secretary of State for Public Administration, Vânio Americano, stressed that the reduction of the discounts on the Labor Income Tax (IRT) demanded by doctors was not possible due to legal imperatives.
"We managed, once again, to present to the union the legal impossibility of reducing the IRT. It is levied on the salary, basically the tax base of all workers, and taxes are created by law in a formal sense, we are talking here about the National Assembly, therefore, it is not possible, legally, to exempt only one class of workers to the detriment of the majority", stressed the minister to the state broadcaster.
Regarding the improvement of working conditions, one of the points of the claim book, the secretary general of Sinmea said that "nothing has progressed, everything is stagnant".
"The conditions have remained the same since the preparation of our claim book in September. According to them, they raised a series of elements, which they have resolved or are currently resolving, which, in practice, we who are in hospitals do not see any of that", commented.
Pedro da Rosa stressed that on Monday, Sinmea's response to its counter-proposal will be presented to the Government, and that it will wait for the next round of negotiations to be scheduled.
According to Pedro da Rosa, the strike, which is on its fifth day this Friday, will continue until the response satisfies the medical profession.
"Our strike is for an indefinite period, until the answer is satisfactory to us, we will convene the assembly to decide on the lifting, suspension or stoppage of the strike", he underlined.
Since the 21st of this month, only minimum services are guaranteed with 25 percent of the medical team available, as well as intensive care.
