Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Minister of Health said on Wednesday that the government is keeping negotiations open with the unions and guaranteed that the PCFR (Performance and Salary Framework) processes are progressing to allow for the normalization of salaries in the sector as early as January 2026.
Jorge Figueiredo gave this assurance to the press when questioned about the announcement of a possible strike by doctors and health technicians starting on December 17th, on the sidelines of the international conference on climate change, gender and health in West Africa, held in Praia.
He assured that the Government is keeping the doors open for dialogue with the seven unions in the health sector and guaranteed that the entire process of salary and functional framework (PCFR) is proceeding “normally,” despite some delays.
He added that the Government views the union announcement “naturally,” considering it part of the democratic process, while emphasizing that “there is, at this moment, no objective reason for a strike.”
This is because, he recalled, the Ministry of Health “never ended negotiations and continues working to conclude the pending processes.”
“The PCFR [Plan of Positions, Functions and Remuneration] for doctors and nurses will be published soon, the one for the National Institute of Public Health is also imminent, and the requests for justification and budgeting for diagnostic and therapeutic assistants and health assistants are in the final phase for consideration by the Council of Ministers,” he said.
Jorge Figueiredo also said that the government plans to meet, in the coming days, with the three ministers involved in the dossier — Health, Finance and Public Administration — and the unions, to clarify any doubts and “dot the i’s and cross the t’s.”
The minister highlighted, on the other hand, the work already done in regularizing employment relationships, indicating that, of the approximately 4,000 workers in the sector, 2,000 were poorly classified and 1,600 precarious contracts have already been resolved.
The goal, he said, is to complete the entire process by the beginning of 2026.
When asked what the “normalization planned for January 2026” means, Figueiredo explained that it essentially involves the timely payment of salaries and the effective implementation of the PCFR (Career Plan, Positions and Salaries).
“That’s what I hope for, that’s what I desire, and that’s what I want: that from January onwards we begin a new cycle, with salary stability and prepared to face the challenges of the sector together,” he concluded.
The permanent secretary of the Public Administration Workers Union (Sintap), Luís Fortes, told Inforpress on Tuesday, December 2nd, that the unions of doctors, nurses, and other health-related technicians have informed the Ministry of Health and the General Secretariat of Labor that they intend to begin a strike starting December 17th.
As explained, this is a decision by the seven unions representing healthcare technicians, following the government’s failure to comply with two agreements signed in 2023 and 2025.
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