The Secretary of State for Public Administration, Inês Ramires, said on Wednesday that the salary increase proposal presented to the unions is a “starting point” for negotiations, indicating that the increase could also be achieved through other measures.
The government official spoke to journalists after the first round of negotiations with the union structures on salary negotiations for 2024, at the Ministry of the Presidency, where she presented a proposal for increases, with the values already provided for in the agreement. signed a year ago with the UGT unions.
“The increase we put on the table is 6.8% on that basis [remuneratória] up to 2% at the top,” said Inês Ramires, indicating that the public administration remuneration base will be around 821 euros next year, compared to the current 769.20 euros.
When asked whether the government has room to go further, as the unions want, the minister said the government will evaluate the proposals of the union structures.
“The government will now study the requirements submitted to us (…) and we will consider how to prepare a salary proposal that, as far as we are concerned, should not be based solely on the salary update because we put it on the table and appreciate it through other aspects, cost reimbursements and extra work,” says Inês Ramires.
“We have invested in improving our proposal, but this is our starting point,” the government official emphasized.
The Secretary of State also confirmed that the government will review the payment of overtime, daily allowances and transport allowances, as indicated by the union structures after the meeting with the government.
“On October 4, we will present proposals to value overtime, similar to what has been done in the Decent Work Agenda, including in the areas of daily allowances and transport subsidies,” said Inês Ramires.
The Decent Work Agenda rules came into force in May and provide for an increase in the amount to be paid for overtime from the 100th hour, but do not currently apply to the public service.
Inês Ramires also said that the government will “implement the abolition of the contribution by local authorities regarding ADSE beneficiaries, as well as the financing of a policy measure regarding those exempt from ADSE contributions.”
Salary negotiations for 2024 for public administration workers started this Wednesday between the government and the unions, with the union structures demanding higher increases than those provided for in the agreement signed a year ago.
The agreement of October last year was signed between the trade union structures of the UGT, the Federation of Trade Unions for Public Administration (Fesap) and the State Trade Union for Technical Staff (STE), which provides for an annual increase of approximately 52 euros (an equal pay ) until 2026 or at least 2% per year.
The Common Front, affiliated with the CGTP, did not sign the agreement with the government in October and will present its proposal today after a trade union summit, followed by a meeting in front of the Ministry of the Presidency with a visiting Prime Minister’s official. residence, António Costa, to hand over the document to the government.
Fesap’s proposal for 2024 is a salary update of 6% with a minimum of 80 euros per employee, while the STE demands an increase of more than 5% next year.
Both UGT structures propose an increase in the food subsidy from the current six euros to 7.50 euros per day and a reduction in discounts for ADSE.
Source: DN
