Police officers are preparing a demonstration for Thursday, in Lisbon, to demand better working conditions and pay – and ironically, the housing crisis is intrinsically involved: unions warn that the costs of housing are making it increasingly difficult to attract new recruits to the country’s security forces.
Explain reports, the protest will be the culmination of several acts of protest that have taken place throughout the year. PSP officers and GNR military personnel are once again demanding compliance with the agreement signed with the government in 2024, which, they stress, has still not been implemented.
The agreement provided for an increase in the risk allowance and negotiations on other demands, namely the restructuring of allowances and pay scales.
“In 2024, the amount of the risk allowance was agreed, but all the other commitments remain unfulfilled. We have been negotiating for a long time and with a lot of patience, but the government is not handling this matter as police officers would have expected”, says Paulo Santos, from the Police Professionals’ Trade Union Association.
Organised by the Police Professionals’ Trade Union Association and the Guard Professionals’ Association, the demonstration begins at the end of Thursday, in Largo de Camões, and will proceed to the prime minister’s official residence in São Bento.
Unions make no bones about the housing crisis affecting security forces, especially professionals at the start of their careers.
“One of the issues that weighs on police officers is housing. Anyone familiar with the prices charged in Lisbon or surrounding areas knows very well that this accounts for a very significant share of the budget of a police officer at the start of their career”, stresses Paulo Santos.
Financial difficulties make the career less attractive. According to the unions, police recruitment drives have fallen short of what is needed over the last four years.
Paulo Santos also points to the sense of insecurity felt by local officials and business owners, which he links to the shortage of officers on the streets.
“We have many local officials and business owners with a fairly considerable level of dissatisfaction and sense of insecurity. For us, this is due to a lack of police officers on the streets”, he told SIC
It is in this context that this Thursday’s demonstration has the slogan “A safe Portugal for everyone”.
The protests by security force professionals have been marked by several initiatives. In one of the latest protests, in 2024, police officers surrounded the Capitólio during the legislative election debate between Luís Montenegro and Pedro Nuno Santos.
In another protest, they slept outdoors and in tents outside the Assembly of the Republic.
This time, however, no one is expected to sleep in tents, particularly following last weekend’s unpleasantness.
Source material: SIC Notícias