The Executive did not close the door, in the meetings this Wednesday with the unions, to advance this year, with retroactivity to January, with increases of 52 euros in the entry salary of senior technicians, nor with the rise of about 400 euros for superiors. doctorate technicians. The issue will be closed in the Council of Ministers this Thursday.

Helena Rodrigues, leader of the STE, was the first representative of the trade union structures to point out that the Government sent a final decision on the issue to the Council of Ministers and, therefore, did not “taxiously” say that it would not give in. what has been a union claim: raise the entry salaries of senior technicians this year, in a similar way to what will be done for technical assistants. “[O Governo] I did not say no, it is a question that is not closed, I did not say no, definitely not. I sent it for tomorrow [quinta-feira]”, he pointed.

The Secretary of State for Public Administrations, Inês Ramires, would confirm: “The government’s position is not closed and it will be tomorrow, in the Council of Ministers, when it will be appreciated from when these measures come into force”. This weighting also includes the entry into force of the entry salaries of higher technicians with a doctorate, which the Government had sent to 2023.

But Helena Rodrigues says she was not so optimistic on this point about the government’s availability. The STE also asked that workers who were already in the career of higher technicians have a raise equal to those who will receive the raise (ie, those at the lowest level). “So that workers who are already in their careers don’t feel a sense of injustice, because there are many who are already in their careers. [pedimos] what there was change of equal value, 50 euros, for all workers who have been in their careers for several years. There were workers who changed levels very recently, after a demanding evaluation process, and who feel offended because, due to a difference of one or two years, they do not have a capital gain of 50 euros”, explains Helena Rodrigues.

For his part, Sebastião Santana, from the Communal Front, stressed again that the Government’s proposals are “grossly insufficient“.

In the last meeting, two weeks ago, the unions left dissatisfied with the Government’s proposal. The idea of ​​​​the Executive expressed then is to increase the entry salaries of 17 thousand technical assistants by 48 euros, this year, retroactive to January, and, in 2023, of senior technicians by 52 euros. Higher technicians with a doctorate will see their salary increased by around 416 euros. For the guilds, there is no reason why all the increases cannot be made this year.

Public function. The increase in the entry salaries of technical assistants and senior technicians will cost 37.5 million euros gross

The Federation of Public Administration Unions (FESAP) expressed, at the time, fears that the increases would be absorbed by IRS withholdings. But the Secretary of State for Public Administrations, Inês Ramires, would clarify later that no worker will lose money through an increase in the withholding tax rate. This is because the Government has promised to change the withholding tables. In fact, this change was made this Wednesday.

IRS Government reviews withholding tables again so that changes in state careers do not dictate loss of salary

“Great illusion”. FESAP criticizes that with new tables there are technical assistants whose net increase will be less than 3 euros

The Government reviewed again, this Wednesday, the IRS withholding tables, this time “in line with recent evolution of civil service salary updates“, which have not yet been approved by the Council of Ministers.

At the end of the meeting with FESAP, José Abraão stressed that these changes mean that, for a single assistant coach, no childrenmore than half of the increase of 47.55 euros is absorbed by the tax.

Government will “equate” the extension of the salary bonus for doctorates to more careers

It is that, currently, before the new salary increase, the technical assistants who access the career earn 709.46 euros gross, but are not subject to withholding on account. If they move to the new position, 757.01 euros, they will retain, in light of the new tables, 5%, that is, 37.85 euros. This means that they earn 719.16 euros — only 9.7 euros more than before.

The situation is complicated when the 11% of Social Security and the 3.5% paid by workers to ADSE (if applicable) are subtracted. In José Abraão’s accounts, the net salary of these workers will go from about 607 euros to about 609 euros. That is, the difference will be around 3 euros. IT IS “a great illusion“, reacts José Abraão, to the Observer.

More specifically, in the Observer’s accounts, taking into account the new withholding tables and the Social Security and ADSE bonuses, a single technician without children goes from receiving, in net terms, 606.63 euros to receiving 609.41 euros , that is, a difference of €2.78. Far from the approximately 48 euros that the Government has announced in gross terms. The technical assistants married with two children have a net increase of approx. 40 euros.

The Government estimates that increasing the entry salaries of auxiliary technicians and senior technicians (including doctors) will cost, this year and next, 37.5 million euros and will cover 39,750 people.

This year, if only the entry salaries of technical assistants rise, 14 million euros will be spent (the amounts are gross, therefore without including what the State will recover in taxes) covering 17 thousand professionals.

The review of the entry salary of 22,000 senior technicians would cost 20 million. And for the 750 doctors, the increase costs 3.5 million euros.

Government welcomes suggestions on hiring contests

On the other hand, the Government has already taken for granted that it has accepted some suggestions from STE and FESAP regarding the rules of public procurement procedures. Among them is the possibility that workers contracted for a fixed term in the hiring pool may have an indefinite term contract in the event of competition.

In addition, the curricular evaluation interview now has a weight in the selection of the candidates of 25% compared to the current 30%, a percentage that the STE considers that “often distorts the final evaluation.”

Article updated with statements by the Secretary of State for Public Administrations