10 YEARS WITHOUT A SALARY INCREASE IN PORTUGAL

&amp;NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">10 YEARS WITHOUT WAGE INCREASES&amp;comma; PORTUGAL ON THE EDGE OF POLITICAL CRISIS <&sol;h2>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>Prime Minister Antonio Costa is threatening to resign if Parliament passes a law to raise teachers' salaries&amp;period; Following the 2008 crisis&amp;comma; Pedro Coelho's right-wing government implemented an austerity policy that led&amp;comma; in 2010&amp;comma; to the freezing of salaries for 650&amp;nbsp&amp;semi;000 Portuguese civil servants&amp;period; Also&amp;comma; in 2015&amp;comma;&amp;nbsp&amp;semi;the arrival in power of the Socialists&amp;comma; raised hopes of reversing the trend&amp;period;<&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>Since the beginning of this year&amp;comma; the teachers' unions&amp;comma; like all those in the civil service&amp;comma; have been calling for a<strong> wage increases<&sol;strong>Despite proposals for dialogue, the government has refused to negotiate. It considers that catch-up measures would be too costly, increasing the public deficit which it is endeavouring to reduce in order to show Brussels that Portugal is a good pupil;<&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<h3 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">For the Portuguese government it&amp;rsquo&amp;semi;s a question of credibility<&sol;h3>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>The unions are fully aware of the need to maintain a certain rigor in the budget; nevertheless, they believe it is possible to set aside a share for social&amp;period; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;vivreauportugalconsulting&period;com&sol;le-deficit-public-du-portugal&sol;"><span style&equals;"text-decoration&colon; underline&semi;">In 2019, Portugal's budget deficit should be close to zero<&sol;span><&sol;a>&amp;period; <&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>This will be a first in Portugal's history&amp;period; Yet&amp;comma; the government continues to be obsessed with this subject&amp;period; Now&amp;comma; if the state&amp;comma; which is the country's main employer&amp;comma; doesn't increase its employees&amp;comma; how could it demand it from the private sector&amp;ThinSpace;&amp;quest; Ten years without a pay rise&amp;comma; is far too much&amp;ThinSpace;&amp;excl;<&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<h3 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">Antonio Costa pledged to break with austerity policy<&sol;h3>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>During the first half of its mandate&amp;comma; the Socialist government took very important measures for workers&amp;ThinSpace;&amp;colon; it increased the minimum wage from <strong>480 à 600€<&sol;strong> over fourteen months&amp;ThinSpace;&amp;semi; unemployment fell to <strong>6&amp;comma;7&amp;nbsp&amp;semi;&amp;percnt;<&sol;strong> after a peak of over 17&amp;nbsp&amp;semi;&amp;percnt; in 2013&amp;ThinSpace;&amp;semi; social dialogue has been relaunched&amp;period;<&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>The balance sheet is therefore very positive&amp;period; But for the unions, more needs to be done&amp;period; Particularly on the issue of salary increases for civil servants&amp;period; <&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<h3 class&equals;"wp-block-heading">Antonio Costa threatens to resign<&sol;h3>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p>It is important to understand that the unions are not at the origin of this arm wrestling&amp;period; Everything will be decided this week between the government and the Parliament&amp;period; The risk of a political crisis will not change the position of the civil servants or of the unions&amp;period; Well determined to win their case&amp;period; But the risk of a political crisis will not change their position&amp;period; Let's keep in mind that this threat to <span style&equals;"text-decoration&colon; underline&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;dn&period;pt&sol;poder&sol;interior&sol;antonio-costa-mantem-ameaca-de-demissao-10868180&period;html">resignation<&sol;a><&sol;span> from <strong>Antonio Costa is first and foremost a communication tool in the run-up to the European&amp;period;<&sol;strong> <&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;&amp;NewLine;<p><&sol;p>&amp;NewLine;