More than 1,800 people are calling for a regional increase in the national minimum wage in the Azores from 5 to 10%, in a petition that is still collecting signatures.
“I believe that this petition will be our petition with the most signatures and that we will be able to defend it well,” said Vítor Silva, the coordinator of the Union of Manufacturing Industries, Food, Commerce and Offices, Hotels, Tourism and Transport of the Azores (SITACEHTT), at a press conference yesterday.
In the Azores, the national minimum wage, currently set at € 870, is increasing by 5% to € 913.50.
If the increase were changed to 10%, as the signatories propose, the minimum wage in the Azores would be 957 euros, still below the 1000 euros that the union claims as a fair value.
For Vítor Silva, this increase is intended to “mitigate the costs of insularity, restore some relative fairness to the salaries of Azorean workers” and “contribute to mitigating situations of poverty and social exclusion” in the region.
“The increase in the cost of living means that the 5% increase is not enough to ensure decent living conditions for those who work in the Azores,” he said.
According to the union leader, the average income in the Azores is “much lower” than on the mainland, with the “overwhelming majority of workers” earning between € 913 and € 950.
“The increase in poverty among Azoreans who, despite working, do not actually receive enough to live decently, demonstrates the injustice of this situation, which is detrimental to the social cohesion of our country,” he said.
Vítor Silva recalled that since the measure was created in 2000, “there has been no change to this supplement”, adding that in Madeira, the minimum wage is already higher than in the Azores (915 euros).
SITACEHTT’s regional coordinator argued that there are “conditions for better pay in the Azores”, claiming that “there is very significant economic growth”.
“When people say that it’s micro and small businesses that are at stake, it’s not true. In many cases, micro and small companies pay more than large companies,” he said.
Vítor Silva also warned against bringing other levels of the wage scales closer to the minimum wage, arguing that an update of all levels should be agreed with the social partners when the minimum wage is increased.
“Often, when the minimum wage increases, the salaries of the other professional categories don’t increase at all and this means that the minimum wage is increasingly being brought closer to other levels of the salary scale,” he explained.
In recent years, the Azorean parliament has debated proposals to increase the regional minimum wage, which have always been rejected.
However, the SITACEHTT coordinator insists on the measure, claiming that if wages cannot be increased through collective bargaining, the political powers must be made aware of “the difficulties that workers are experiencing.”
“When a measure is fair, we have to repeat it as many times as necessary,” he stressed, promising ‘not to give up’ if the petition doesn’t have the desired results.
The union had already submitted a petition with similar content, which had 1,600 signatures, but it said it had already managed to exceed that number in just two months.
In March, SITACEHTT delivered another petition to the Legislative Assembly of the Azores, with 2,659 signatures, calling for the implementation of a 35-hour working week for all employees in the region.
“There comes a time when workers are faced with so much, with no money for anything, that they react. And a lot of people start to realize that if they don’t do something, no one is going to do it for them,” he argued.
In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director.
Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.
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