Lisbon, Oct. 15, 2025 (Lusa) - The Frente Sindical trade union acknowledged on Wednesday that it would revise downwards its demand for an increase in the meal allowance to €10 by 2026, and said that the government would evaluate the reinstatement of the three days' holiday abolished under the 'troika'.
"The meal allowance, we believe, should be updated to a value that we propose of €12, but in a negotiation we are also willing for it to be €10," said the president of the State Technical Staff Union (STE), Helena Rodrigues, as she left the meeting with the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Marisa Garrido, at the Ministry of Finance in Lisbon, acknowledging that the increase could be "phased in”.
The president of the STE also said that at the meeting with the government, she also insisted on other proposals included in the union's demands, namely "the recovery of the three days' holiday" abolished under the “troika”, proposing that civil servants "recover one day's holiday each year, until they have three days".
The government "agreed to consider" this proposal, added Helena Rodrigues.
Concerning possible pay rises for next year above what is provided for in the multi-annual agreement currently in force, the president of the STE indicated that the government "did not close" the door "at this meeting", but neither did it commit itself.
"We believe it could be something more," she said.
The current agreement, signed in November 2024 with two civil service unions (Fesap and Frente Sindical), provides for a 2.15% increase, with a minimum of €56.58 next year.
The STE, which is part of the UGT, is calling for a 6.4% pay rise for all civil servants by 2026.
Another concern the STE has passed on to the government concerns the performance appraisal of civil servants. "We are concerned about the SIADAP evaluations, the delay in the services carrying out the evaluation processes" and what the government has said is that they are working with the public organisations to ensure that this process is carried out as soon as possible," said Helena Rodrigues.
Helena Rodrigues also said she had insisted on lowering the discount rate for ADSE, as she considers it "very" high. In its demands, the union is calling for the ADSE discount rate to be updated to 2.5% over 12 months, instead of the current 3.5%.
The president of the STE also said that she hopes the government will adopt a "more concrete approach" to the union's proposals at the next meeting, scheduled for 29 October.
JMF/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
