The secretary of the Federation of Public Administration, Health and Services Workers, Custódio Cupessala, stated, in Benguela, that his institution is waiting for what he calls the ‘confusion’ of the three unions to pass, so that negotiations with the government are resumed
The union leader assures that, at a recent meeting with the Government, in Luanda, it was decided to extend the process of updating categories until June this year. The Federation ensures that, for this reason, it has been developing actions aimed at putting pressure on the Government, so that public service salaries are established fairly. “We are still waiting for this confusion between the three union centers to pass.
The information we have is that, if there is no positive result by the 19th, there will be a strike on the 20th”, he said, moments before the three union centrals announced a general strike in the public sector across the country, for March 20, 2024. Custódio Cupessala maintains that, since 2018, negotiations have been taking place, based on a list of demands. In 2021, he highlights, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Ministry of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security and, therefore, the process of updating categories began to resolve situations relating to salary asymmetries, covering, in a first phase , 44 thousand employees, while another 29 thousand are waiting.
“This process was taking place and ended in 2023. And we still negotiated and it was extended to June 2024”, signals Custódio Cupessala, having, therefore, highlighted the unanimous position of his Federation, expressed at the end of February, of non-adhesion to the strike called by the trade unions, namely UNTA-CS, CGSILA and Força Sindical de Angola. “We have already unanimously declared that we will not join, because we have a process that began in 2018. It is ongoing and many are benefiting”, reiterated Custódio. According to the trade unionist, a “beneficial” meeting recently took place in the country’s capital, Luanda, in which the process of updating categories was reviewed, noting that many civil servants are already benefiting from the same.
Processes at the Ministry of Finance
Although he recognizes the slowness of the process, due to the Ministry of Finance, the union leader expresses his hope that the Government is committed to fulfilling the demands contained in a notebook in his possession. “According to the secretary of this same ministry, he said that ‘this ministry [MAPTSS] he did everything, but the problem was with the Ministry of Finance’. There was a Finance representative there, but he was unable to give us an answer as to what it should be like”, he said, assuring that he had received guarantees that workers who were to be furloughed upon retirement would not receive previously paid salaries.
“Something must be done for them, so that, when they retire, they have these subsidies in the order of their current update. The meeting did not stop there. We also presented the issue of those who entered the public service in 2012, because they were excluded from this process”, he highlighted. He then added that “since the process has been extended, we would like everyone to benefit. The Secretary of State (for Labor) responded to us ‘that this process will benefit everyone’, he highlighted. However, if the process is not completed by the 31st, the union leader says that a new negotiating front will be opened.
Asked whether those waiting for benefits will receive additional retroactive salaries, the union leader says he has not received any concrete guarantee due to an alleged incapacity expressed by the authorities. “Due to this reality, decorative subsidies, various subsidies, this will be an ongoing negotiation. But, everyone who presented documents that the principle of reference presents, will benefit from this process”, he assures, regretting, however, the fact that some of the members presented false documents. “Others have problems with approval by INAAREES, but, in the last meeting we had, we discussed that those who studied at national level at universities should approve. And they are complying with what we propose”, he highlights.
BY: Constantino Eduardo, Benguela
