Luanda — The National Council for Social Consultation on Wednesday, in Luanda Province, unanimously approved and recommended the adoption of the model agreed between the trade unions and the Angolan government on the national minimum wage set at 100,000 kwanzas.
In approving the model, the aforementioned body of consultation and social dialogue for the Head of the State recommended that the law be sent to him for promulgation and subsequent publication in the Official Gazette.
On 29 May, the Angolan government and the trade unions reached a consensus on the issues in the list of demands, presented to the government in September 2023.
The agreement stipulates, among other things, that private and public companies that currently pay 70,000 Kwanzas as the national minimum wage have up to 12 months to upgrade to 100,000 Kwanzas.
As for private and public companies that pay below 70,000 Kwanzas, they will have up to 24 months to upgrade to 100,000 Kwanzas.
Speaking to the press after the first extraordinary meeting of the National Council for Social Dialogue, held today, the secretary of State for Labour and Social Security, Pedro José Filipe, said that the meeting also served to inform the partners about the levels of implementation of the Roadmap for Implementing the New Remuneration for the Public Administration (RINAR), with three measures having already been implemented.
The first has to do with the processing, since March of this year, of the allowances for employees in remote areas, the second with the adjustments of 05% of the basic salary of each employee and the implementation, as of this June, of the 30,000 Kwanza increase in the salary of civil servants in the general civil service system.
With regard to the payment of allowances to civil servants in remote areas, Pedro José Filipe said that at the moment more than 45,000 civil servants have received rent, installation and isolation allowances.
"This measure serves to ensure that no worker has a net salary below 100,000 Kwanzas", he emphasised.
Under these measures, university lecturers and researchers were also given an increase of 100% on their salaries up until May.
Military physicans, technical analysts and nurses were also included, who will be able to adjust their salary scales.
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The secretary said that the expected time for applying the roadmap for implementing the new wage for the public administration is three years, and that the measures have already begun to be implemented.
In turn, the spokesman for the union council, Teixeira Cândido, said that the union leaders are aware of the current context in terms of the macroeconomic issues facing companies.
For this reason, the trade unionists were in favour of the progressive measure regarding the issue.
Currently, the national minimum wage is 32,181 kwanzas.
