Financial commitment to be presented on May 2
With “hopes high” for Monday’s first meetings between police syndicates and Margarida Blasco, Portugal’s new minister of internal affairs, president of the GNR union (APG/ GNR) emerged saying the long-fought for mission supplement (which has prompted several protests) has finally been “guaranteed”.
Nogueira also stressed that Ms Blasco ‘had made a commitment that GNR agents “will not be disadvantaged” or “penalised” in relation to inspectors of PJ Judicial Police (unilaterally awarded a mission supplement by the last government last year).
The financial nuts and bolts of this commitment are to be presented at a new round of meetings on May 2 – at which point César Nogueira hopes the matter will be resolved “and that there will be no need for further meetings, even though there is a meeting already scheduled for May 15…”
The priority issue for GNR agents (as with PSP counterparts) is that the supplement they eventually receive is “identical to the one given to PJ inspectors by the previous government. GNR agents “cannot be treated differently”, stresses Nogueira.
Asked why the minister hadn’t presented any figures at the meeting on Monday, César Nogueira replied that the MAI team is still working on the figures by category and rank.
The union president explained that GNR military want their current security and risk force supplement – which has a fixed component of €100 euros and a variable component of 20% of salary – to be replaced by the mission supplement, which should be 15% of the basic salary of what is stipulated for the national director of the PJ, totalling €1,026.
In addition to the Association of Guard Professionals, Margarida Blasco met yesterday with the National Association of GNR Sergeants (ANSG), the Independent Socio-Professional Association of the GNR (ASPIG), the National Autonomous Association of the GNR (ANAG) and the National Association of GNR Officers (ANOG).
At the end of the meeting with ANOG, association president Diogo Barreiros spoke to journalists saying he had “the same position as the other associations and unions”, even though ANOG is not represented by the Platform of PSP unions and GNR associations which is more frequently cited in the news.
“What we want is to restore all the dignity that was taken away from the GNR (…) that’s why we want the same amount that was rightly given to the PJ,” said Barreiros.
The minister is now due to have further meetings with PSP syndicates.
Meantime, Bruno Pereira – spokesman for the Platform of PSP unions and GNR associations – had a long interview with SIC Notícias over the weekend, in which he described both police forces’ high hopes for negotiations, and the absolute need to “give some serenity and peace” back to the services which are suffering from the rise of ‘inorganic movements’ within them that “feed” off discord and confusion – and have, in a large part, been powering recent protests. ND
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
