The secretary general of UNTA, a trade union confederation, mentioned, in a press conference, various aspects that affect the lives of workers in recent years, mainly what is ongoing, marked by a "scenario that is not healthy".
According to José Laurindo, the priority is the dialogue with the Government, "but if this dialogue is of the deaf, naturally it can result in strikes, the last weapon that the worker has to defend himself".
"We have been taking precautions and positively considering the effects of a strike, but we are in a situation where things are unsustainable", he said, reiterating that it is not the UNTA's wish that there be a strike, "but it may be inevitable", recalling that "all ministerial sectors have many difficulties".
José Laurindo stressed that the lives of Angolan workers are being affected by the consequences of galloping inflation, high unemployment, the slow recovery of jobs, the reduction in the level of real income of families, the high cost of foreign exchange, the slowdown in economic activity, the country's fiscal fragility, which are "effects of public policies not very well conceived by the Angolan executive".
To exemplify the situation, José Laurindo said that at the level of the UNTA-CS alone there are over 30 lists of claims, "because there is no effective dialogue in various ministerial departments".
"What we are witnessing has no possible comparison in the history of Angola. Salaries have completely lost their value due to the high inflation that is registered", he said.
According to José Laurindo, the Angolan families were also affected by the decision to withdraw the subsidy for fuel, more specifically gasoline, in June this year, which "worsened the socio-economic situation of workers in all areas", as it was not accompanied with other complementary measures to mitigate its negative impact.
"In reality, a political reform is imperative that reduces uncertainty and stimulates private investment, both national and foreign, mainly in the agricultural sector for the production of goods and consumption towards the food self-sufficiency that the country so badly needs", he said.
On the other hand, continued José Laurindo, it is also necessary to advance the tax reform, which "only aims at increasing revenue collection as a priority", considering it "a policy that suffocates the worker", due to his low salary, which deprives them of purchasing power and "acquisition of goods and services for their survival".
The trade unionist added that in the joint declaration, this year, of the country's main trade union organisations, alluding to the International Workers' Day, some demands were presented to the President, João Lourenço, to be taken to improve the conditions of Angolan workers.
In the document, the union organizations stressed that if the Government did not respond to the questions presented, the declaration could evolve into a list of demands, having already passed three months without any sign of the executive.
The trade unionist said that UNTA cannot "be impassive and serene" looking at the situation of the workers, which "is becoming more and more acute", with the list of claims being the path for a dialogue with the Government, since the Council of Concertation Social, space to address "many subjects", in the last six years it met only once, instead of once a year as it was foreseen.
José Laurindo stressed that his proposals aim that the executive, in the preparation of the General State Budget for 2024, "take these elements into account", namely the mitigation of "galloping inflation" or alternatively, which is not the objective of the UNTA, "because that doesn't solve it", the substantial increase in wages.
"This situation that the country is experiencing is leading even the private sector to be reducing workers, more people going to unemployment", stressed the leader, regretting that "companies are reducing their work staff and some of them may go bankrupt".
