The PSD/ CDS-PP government has offered public sector workers an annual pay rise of €60.52 until 2029, but syndicates say it is not enough.
José Abraão, secretary-general of FESAP, the Public Administration Trade Union Front admitted the offer represents an overall pay increase of €300.
“We said that this was insufficient, the basket of necessities has gone up by 17% and it’s important that people, since they haven’t had an increase in their meal allowance this year either, feel minimally compensated for this,” he told reporters at the end of the first meeting with the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Marisa Garrido, at the Ministry of Finance in Lisbon.
This meeting was “to start the general negotiation process for the General Law on Labour in Public Functions”, says Lusa.
Abraão “guaranteed that he would try to improve (the government’s) proposal, whether through supplements, an increase in the meal allowance, which the government had not addressed at this first meeting, or allowances, which he currently considers “ridiculous”.
In November 2024, the government signed a new multi-year agreement with two of the civil service unions (Fesap and Frente Sindical) to increase the pay of civil service workers.
The agreement provides for increases of at least €56.58 for gross monthly salaries of up to €2,631.62 and a minimum of 2.15 % for higher salaries in 2026.
According to Abraão, the government has thus proposed bringing forward to 2026 the increase that was planned for 2027 and 2028, of €60.52 for gross monthly salaries of up to €2,631.62 and a minimum of 2.3 % for higher salaries.
The FESAP leader also highlighted other issues that he believes will be addressed in this negotiation process – which will have its next meeting on 3 or 7 October – including the rescheduling of the review of careers such as those of the Municipal Police, museum workers, geophysical meteorology, and “many others that are already included in the agreement”.
Today’s meetings involved the three public administration union federations, FESAP, Frente Sindical (led by STE) and Frente Comum.
While FESAP and Frente Sindical appear willing to revise the existing agreement with the government, to cover this new legislature, Frente Comum is less enthusiastic, and has already set a date for a strike (October 24) unless the government improves on its offer.
Secretary general Sebastião Santana said yesterday that he considers the agreement to be one of “impoverishment”.
Today, he said: “We will hold a strike 24-hour national strike on October 24 if the Government does not reach a point that allows for the signing (of an agreement) by the most representative structure of workers, which is us.”
It needs to be remembered here that the current national minimum wage is €870 (a sum very few people can actually live on) – and the base pay for the Civil Service (commonly known as the state minimum wage) is only marginally better: €878.41.
For 2027 and 2028, the agreement signed in 2024 stipulates an increase of at least €60.52 or a minimum of 2.3%.
The Trade Union Front, led by STE, is demanding a 6.4% pay rise for all civil servants in 2026 and an update of the meal allowance to €12.
FESAP, meanwhile, is proposing that basic pay in the civil service rises to €973.41 in 2026, with a minimum update of €95 for all workers, as well as an increase in the tax-free food allowance to €10 per day.
The Common Front is demanding a 15% pay rise to a minimum of €150 as of 1 January, as well as an increase in the food allowance to €12.
Source: LUSA
