The municipal police carried out a 24-hour strike this Wednesday to demand the regulation of the career and salary increases, concentrating, as a protest, next to the official residence of the prime minister, in Lisbon.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of the National Union of Municipal Police (SNPM), Pedro Oliveira, explained that “it has a membership of 90% and the participation in Lisbon of about 500 agents,” adding that it has “five buses full ”. He also said he was aware of “at least 25 police stations across the country closed due to lack of police.”
Currently, there are around 900 municipal police officers working in 37 municipalities throughout the country.
According to the trade unionist, the agents feel “disrespected and underestimated”, since “their professional career is not being valued, remembering that professionals “They are working with a salary that is only seven euros from the national minimum wage”.
“The career of municipal police officers in general regime has not been regulated since 2009. We have been waiting for the regulation for 13 years. He was born with very meager salaries, the progression is slow and the rank changes are very low”, described Pedro Oliveira.
The president of the SNPM accuses different governments of “forgetting” about these agents, contrary to what happens with other professional groups.
“Our salary at the beginning of our career was equivalent to that of an assistant coach. They have been negotiating to change indices at the start of civil service careers. The higher technicians were increased and, once again, they forgot about the municipal police officers”, he criticized.
“It is the cheapest police there is. There is no police officer in Europe who earns less and who has less respect from the employer, the public administration. This, in terms of inflation, now becomes totally unbearable,” he warned.
Due to these conditions, Pedro Oliveira estimates that in recent times around 400 agents have left this profession.
The agents gather from 11:30 a.m. in Largo de Santos, leaving around 12:00 p.m. in a protest march to the official residence of the prime minister, António Costa, in São Bento.
On October 3, the SNPM will be received by the Secretary of State for Local Administration, Carlos Miguel.
Source: Observadora
