Luanda - The Angola government and trade unions are on the verge of reaching an agreement on the implementation of a new minimum wage, the Minister of Public Administration, Labor and Social Security Teresa Dias said Thursday.
Speaking to the press at the end of a seminar on the new labor law, which is due to come into force at the end of March, the minister said revising the minimum wage requires a very careful study, so as not to distort the national economy.
"We are well advanced in this work. Contrary to what is sometimes proposed to us, the trade union centers have participated in the study for the evolution of the national minimum wage," the minister said.
According to the minister, the parties have been carrying out regular work to analyze proposals for a possible minimum wage increase.
"From this technical group on the national minimum wage, there are proposals regarding what the increase should be or the impact of the basic basket, because it is calculated based on the basic basket and other factors," the minister said, referring to the demand and products supply.
"We can't set the national minimum wage without taking into account the business group, the micro, medium and large companies. If we accept that, as of today, the minimum wage is 300,000 kwanzas, for example, we have to be able to pay our domestic workers. This is not just a government issue," the minister said.
Changing the national minimum wage requires consultation with social partners and business groups to avoid putting the country's economy in jeopardy.
Last year, trade unions' demanded an increase in the salaries and minimum wage, improved social conditions for workers and officials, payment of isolation allowances and reduction in the IRT, among other matters. LIN/OHA/AMP
