In a statement made public this Monday, the OAA called on its provincial bodies to mobilize in teams to monitor the strike, taking into account that in the first phase (20 to 22 March) unionists and strikers "were attacked, detained and intimidated, putting fundamental trade union freedom at risk".
According to the note, the aforementioned monitoring consists of following developments on the strike on site and by other means, which began this Monday and runs until 30 April.
The OAA requests that the presidents of the councils and coordinators of the provincial delegations send a daily report on the situation of the strike in their jurisdiction, "highlighting any intervention that they may eventually carry out in the process".
These OAA provincial bodies are also invited to mobilize lawyers to "provide forensic support where necessary".
The Bar Association also reminds all its members, in the note signed by the president, José Luís Domingos, that the defense of rights, freedoms and fundamental guarantees "is the noblest mission of lawyers", encouraging them to engage professionally, urban is responsable.
The second phase of the general strike began this Monday and runs until April 30th, with workers demanding an increase in the minimum wage, an adjustment in civil service salaries and others.
In the statement of demands, presented in September 2023 to the President of the Republic, the three trade unions demand an increase in the national minimum wage, from the current 32,000 kwanzas, to 245,000 kwanzas, a "flexible" proposal, however, to 100,000 kwanzas, an adjustment of the Civil Service salary, in the order of 250 percent, and a 10 percent reduction in Labor Income Tax (IRT).
The three union centrals – Central Geral de Sindicatos Independentes e Livres de Angola (CGSILA), União Nacional dos Trabalhadores Angolanos - Confederação Sindical (UNTA-CS) and Força Sindical - Central Sindical (FS-CS) – also demand the updating of subsidies provided for in the social benefits system of the National Institute of National Security (INSS), as well as the shared management of INSS funds, providing "necessary transparency".
On Friday, the unions reaffirmed their mobilization, after the President, João Lourenço, announced an increase of 30 thousand kwanzas in public administration salaries, starting on June 1st.
For the trade unions, the announcement of this increase, starting in June, "does not respond to the concerns registered in the list of demands".
Furthermore, "the Government's unilateral position of determining what should or should not be offered to workers, regardless of the cost of living and the level of inflation, reflects the Government's indifference to the real concerns of workers", says a note from press released after the announcement of the salary increase.
