Teixeira Cândido said that after seven meetings between the union centrals and the Government, no consensus was found, which for the workers “reflects a lack of willingness on the part of the Government to find solutions at the negotiation table”.
At issue is an interpolated general strike, the first phase of which took place between the 20th and 22nd of March, with the second scheduled to take place between the 22nd and 30th of April.
A statement of demands was sent to President João Lourenço, in September 2023, by three trade unions 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 an adjustment of the Civil Service salary, in the order of 250 percent, and a 10% reduction in Labor Income Tax (IRT).
The union leader denounced that “massive discounts” are being prepared as a way of inhibiting workers from adhering to a possible second phase of the strike.
According to Teixeira Cândido, workers are mobilized to make sacrifices to see their demands met, and will not shy away from demanding their rights.
“To the extent that today we have Angolans living in extreme poverty, and the concept of extreme poverty is that established by the United Nations, in that anyone who lives on less than two dollars a day lives in extreme poverty,” he said.
Teixeira Cândido stressed that the Government in its National Development Plan (PDN), in axis no. 4, proposes to eradicate poverty and extreme poverty.
“What we have is a Government that has workers who are demanding, saying that it is not possible today to live on the salary paid of 32 thousand kwanzas and that this presupposes living in extreme poverty”, he said.
“The Government is completely insensitive to the workers' appeal and the workers are ready to fight, until there is a solution, but we will not abandon the fight, we will not be overcome by fatigue”, he added.
The Angolan executive proposed 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 three union centrals - Central General de Sindicatos Independentes e Livres de Angola (CGSILA), the National Union of Angolan Workers - 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”.
