Lisbon, Sept. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - The leader of the Portuguese public administration trade union (Fesap) said on Friday that the Government has proposed a salary increase of €60.52 in the public administration pay scale until 2029, totalling around €300.
“We said that this was not enough, the cost of the basket of essential goods has increased 17% and, it is important that civil servants, since they have not had an increase in their meal allowance this year either, feel minimally compensated for this,” argued José Abraão, speaking to journalists at the end of the first meeting with the secretary of state for Public Administration, Marisa Garrido, at the Ministry of Finance in Lisbon, to begin the general negotiation process for the General Law on Public Service Employment.
The Fesap leader assured that he will seek to improve this proposal, either through supplements, an increase in the meal allowance, which the Government did not address in this first meeting, or through allowances, which he considered “ridiculous” at present.
In November 2024, the Government signed a new multi-year agreement with two of the civil service trade union structures (Fesap and Frente Sindical) to provide enhancements for public administration workers.
The agreement provides for increases of at least €56.58 for gross monthly salaries of up to €2,631.62 and a minimum of 2.15% for higher salaries in 2026.
According to the Fesap leader, the Government proposed to maintain the planned increase of €56.58 for 2026 and to increase it to €60.52 in 2027, 2028 and now 2029, for gross monthly salaries of up to €2,631.62 and a minimum of 2.3% for higher salaries.
José Abraão also highlighted other issues he considers important to address in this negotiation process, the next meeting of which will be held on October 3 or October 7, including the rescheduling of career reviews such as those for the municipal police, museum workers, geophysical meteorology workers and “so many others that are already included in the agreement.”
At today’s meetings with the three public administration trade union federations, the Government will propose an extension of the current enhancement agreement to cover the current legislative term, i.e., until 2029.
Fesap was the first to be received, at 9:00 a.m., followed by the Trade Union Front, led by the Union of Technical Staff of the State (STE), at 10:30 a.m., and the National Federation of Trade Unions of Public and Social Service Workers (Common Front), at 12:00 p.m.
Both Fesap and the Trade Union Front, both affiliated with the UGT, have already expressed their willingness to review the existing agreement in order to cover the entire legislative term.
The leader of the Common Front, Sebastião Santana, said on Thursday that he would not sign an agreement like those “signed last year with the UGT,” adding that last year’s agreement is “an agreement of impoverishment.”
“We will sign an agreement that values the work of workers and begins to restore purchasing power,” he said.
Currently, the national minimum wage is €870 and the remuneration base for the Public Administration (commonly known as the State minimum wage) is €878.41.
For 2027 and 2028, the agreement signed in 2024 establishes an increase of at least €60.52 or a minimum of 2.3%.
The Trade Union Front, led by STE, is demanding a 6.4% salary increase for all civil servants in 2026 and an update of the meal allowance to €12.
Fesap, on the other hand, proposes that the basic salary in the civil service rise to €973.41 in 2026 and a minimum update of €95 for all workers, in addition to an increase in the meal allowance to €10 per day, tax-free.
For its part, the Common Front is demanding a 15% pay rise of at least €150 from January 1, 2026, as well as an increase in the meal allowance to €12.
MPE/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
