Minister’s calculations “open door to further protests”
President of the National Union of Police Officers said today that his colleagues feel “extremely wronged” by the proposal presented yesterday by the government (intending to right the wrongs of the last executive), considering that it doesn’t even “have the dignity to be a proposal”.
“I haven’t felt so stunned for a long time”, Bruno Pereira told reporters at the end of a meeting with Minister of Internal Affairs, Margardia Blasco. “We feel extremely wronged by this beginning”.
At the meeting with the six PSP unions, Margarida Blasco proposed a mission supplement for PSP and GNR officers of between €365.13 and €625.94 to replace the current supplement for service and risk in the security forces.
What it boils down to is that agents could be earning up to €75 more per month than they are at the moment.
As Correio da Manhã has explained, calculations were made on the basis of starting salaries of PSP and GNR officers, not on the salary of the national director (which is what unions wanted).
Hopes now centre on unions’ counter-proposal, explains Bruno Pereira who represents the ‘platform’ bringing together PSP unions and GNR socio-professional associations.
The platform will present its counter-proposal at the next meeting scheduled by the minister, on May 15.
But the reality is that this ‘undignified proposal’ has played right into the hands of the inorganic movements within the police forces that have been powering protests and indignation, and so opened the door to further protests.
This first meeting has also shown the government up, again, for ‘failing’: the risk subsidy issue was one fully recognised by Luís Montenegro during the election campaign, therefore it makes no sense now to upset police with a paltry offer.
The combined forces of PSP/ GNR have said they want an “identical mission supplement” to the one given to PJ judicial police. In some cases, this supplement would increase current salaries by around €600 a month.
As Armando Ferreira, representing Sinapol (the national syndicate of police) has explained, work now has to be done to take the offer that translates into €75 per month a great further. ND
Source material: LUSA/ Correio da Manhã
