Hot-on-the-heels of the IVA-bombshell presented in Wednesday’s “strategic budget document” (read story HERE), comes the news that the government is now preparing a ‘hit-list’ designed to pare workers on its payroll down to the bone.
Fusions and ‘extinctions’ of public services will see ‘amicable dismissals’ and workers sent for ‘retraining’ – which will effectively see salary cuts of at least 40%, and yet more ‘amicable dismissals’ further down the line.
The plans, reported in an exclusive in Correio da Manhã newspaper, will affect thousands – “particularly teachers, tax office workers, health service staff and even soldiers in the Armed Forces”.
As trades unionists up and down the country took to the streets on May 1 (the day of the worker) to voice their opposition to what they call the ongoing “invasion of rights”, CM reports that government departments are under increasing pressure to come up with their respective hit lists.
The message being passed down from on high is that “everything considered as small services should be merged and shared”.
“The model for the fusion and extinction of services programme should be completed within the next two weeks,” writes CM.
“Services open to the public will be put in the hands of local authorities through collaboration agreements – while administrators will remain connected to the ministries.
“In the first phase, no workers will be dispensed with, as it will need to be seen how many are to be placed in the new model.
“Once this phase is over the intention is to go for ‘amicable dismissals’ and if workers are not in agreement, they will be sent for retraining”.
Retraining, says the newspaper, will see state workers earning the equivalent of 60% of their current salaries.
To be fair, CM adds that the writing for all this was on the wall the minute Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque announced new programmes to annul state workers contracts.
The 2015 state budget “will reduce staffing costs by €65 million”, explains CM while retraining programs will lop another €58 million off state payroll costs.
Meantime, trades unionists and opposition parties are in uproar.
New protests are planned for June, in both Lisbon and Porto – while Socialist leader António José Seguro accuses the ruling PSD/CDS-PP coalition of “tricking the country” by introducing yet more taxes when it had promised not to.
Covering the May 1 demonstrations in Lisbon and Porto on Thursday, Público newspaper quoted one voice over a loudspeaker telling onlookers: “They are just cutting and robbing everyone who works! One more push and the government will fall”.
Communist leader Jerónimo de Sousa, however, doubts it is as simple as that, says the paper. “The struggle has to go on,” he told Público.
