"The Government brought the same proposals that were at the origin of the strike, it didn't improve anything", said Teixeira Cândido, spokesperson for the unionists and also general secretary of the Union of Angolan Journalists (SJA), at the end of the meeting, the first after of the first phase of the general strike, which took place between the 20th and 22nd of March.
Three union centrals presented to the President, João Lourenço, in September 2023, a statement of demands, demanding 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 and a salary adjustment of the Public Service, in the order of 250 percent, in addition to the 10 percent reduction in Labor Income Tax (IRT).
According to Teixeira Cândido, the Government did not approach the unions' demands and presented this Wednesday the same proposals as on March 13th, before the first strike.
"They are the same proposals, with completely different wording, but no progress, in other words, the Government did not present any proposal that responded to the demands", said the union leader.
The executive decided to propose a minimum wage depending on the size of the company, namely 48,000 kwanzas for small companies, 70,000 kwanzas for medium-sized companies and 96,000 kwanzas for large companies, which was rejected by the unions.
The spokesperson for the workers' union organizations reiterated the workers' willingness to continue negotiating before the 22nd of this month, the date set for the second phase of the interpolated strike.
"If we don't resolve it by then, the workers have no other way", highlighted Teixeira Cândido, remembering that the unions gave in as much as they could.
According to the spokesperson for the trade unions, the Government intends to refer the issue of the minimum wage to a consultation meeting on the minimum wage, which the trade unions understand "does not make sense".
"We sent a request book and we understand that the employer is never interested in improving the worker's salary conditions, so any demand to take this matter to that meeting, from our point of view, may not be very useful for us", he said.
"So, we either find a solution in negotiations and then refer these issues to social consultation because the unions do not intend to be bound by the decisions of social consultation", he added.
The interpolated general strike has the second phase scheduled from the 22nd to the 30th of April and the third phase from the 3rd to the 14th of June of the current year.
In the list of demands, presented by the 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), the updating the 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".
