This Friday, the PCP proposed setting the national minimum wage at 910 euros in January next year and reaching 1,000 euros in 2024, as these increases are a national emergency.
This proposal was presented at a press conference in parliament by communist MP Alfredo Maia, where he also distanced himself from the mechanism that the government could adopt next week to stabilize the effects of the interest rate increase on housing loans.
“The PCP today submitted a proposal to increase the national minimum wage to 910 euros from January 1, with the aim of reaching 1,000 euros by 2024. The aim is to restore purchasing power and, above all, to cope with the dramatic circumstances in which many families find themselves. are currently in as a result of rising interest rates and worsening costs of living and poverty,” the journalist justified.
Alfredo Maia pointed out that the national minimum wage covers more than a quarter of workers “and has a strong impact on poverty, as at least 10% of workers become poorer through work.”
‘We expect the parliamentary majority [do PS] and the other parties join us in this project because we are facing a real national emergency,” he insisted, before referring to the PS.
“The PCP plans to go further than the PS. It is more than clear that the minimum wage imposed for this year has proven to be insufficient. The challenge for the PS is to improve wages in general, especially with regard to the very significant volume of workers who fall below the minimum wage.”orphan.
Alfredo Maia warned that, if a significant increase in the minimum wage is not achieved, “the current cycle will not be overcome, nor the living conditions of families and workers improved, nor the Portuguese economy in terms of boosting domestic consumption” .
Faced with statements by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, according to which the government plans to create a mechanism to better protect families in relation to the movement of interest rates, through a mechanism of predictability of the level of payments , along with a better credit subsidy, the PCP deputy separated from the path followed by the socialist executive.
“It is clear that the government and the PS have a prosperity vision. The government provides this support, and then another, but does not solve the underlying problems,” he accused.
As for home loansAlfredo Maia referred to proposals from the PCP to “restrain the escalation of housing payments”, namely by imposing a moratorium on repayments for a period of two years and, above all, by intervening in the regulation of payments, including the ‘spread ‘ .
“The public bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, must commit to establishing a ‘spread’ value that serves as a reference and that has a moderating effect on the escalation of interest and repayments. It is important to ask the question: what effective contribution does the bank make?, which has benefited so much, to contain this escalation of interest rates, he asked, later expressing the lack of any intervention on the part of the executive power.
Source: DN
