The prime minister confirmed today that he had received the letter from the PS secretary-general, to which he will “naturally respond”, according to a source in Luís Montenegro’s office.
“The letter has been received and will of course be answered,” a source in the prime minister’s office told Lusa.
The secretary-general of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, wrote to the prime minister today, offering to negotiate an agreement that would resolve the situation of certain professional groups in the public administration within 60 days.
In a letter addressed to Luís Montenegro, to which the Lusa news agency has had access, Pedro Nuno Santos adds that “the PS’s readiness for this agreement presupposes prior negotiation with the workers’ representative organizations”.
“I am sure that it will be possible to work towards this agreement within sixty days, in order to resolve the situation of these public administration professionals before the end of the Assembly of the Republic’s term in July this year,” reads the one-page letter, signed by Pedro Nuno Santos.
In the letter, the Socialist leader reiterates the PS’s interest in “working together with the government with the aim of building an agreement that will allow solutions to be found, if necessary in an amending budget, for a number of issues on which there is a broad political and party consensus, expressed during the electoral campaign for the last legislative elections”.
“We’re talking about enhancing the careers and salaries of public administration workers, especially health professionals (all of them, not just doctors), the security forces, bailiffs and teachers,” he said.
On March 19, after a hearing with the President of the Republic in Belém, Pedro Nuno Santos had expressed his willingness to allow an amending budget of the AD limited to “matters of consensus”, referring to the upgrading of the salary scales of these professional groups in the public administration by the beginning of the summer.
“I myself will make contact with the leader of the coalition to demonstrate the PS’s willingness, and even to indicate two names who can, within 30 days, reach an agreement that will allow us to find a solution by the summer so that we can resolve the situation of these public administration professionals before the summer break begins,” he added at the time.
A day later, when asked about this challenge, Luís Montenegro said he was “pleased to note the sense of responsibility” of the communication made by the PS secretary-general, but declined to answer whether he would be available to negotiate the viability of a possible amending budget.
“I had the opportunity to listen to all the speeches made by all the party leaders and took note of all their content. Regarding that of the PS secretary-general, I was pleased to note the sense of responsibility it contains,” said Luís Montenegro at the time, also at the end of an audience with the President of the Republic.
