2 arguments against increases in civil servants’ wages in Portugal

The Portuguese Government is about to announce increases in civil servants’ wages between 2015 and 2020.

The IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank are about to complete the adjustment programme and meanwhile, the President has declared that he would welcome an increase in the civil servants’ wages in the coming years.

Government appears to be leaning towards an increase in wages, in line with the President’s opinion. This demonstrates concern over the upcoming European elections in May 2014 and Parliamentary elections in 2015.

Increasing civil servants’ pay could potentially result in lower corruption levels, as motivated and relatively well-paid civil servants would have a lower tendency to accept bribes. However, a number of arguments can be made against any increases in civil servants’ wages at this stage:

1. A number of cuts in the wages of civil servants were proposed from 2008 onwards but the Constitutional Court blocked their implementation. As a result, unit labour costs are back at 2008 levels in the public sector, while there has been a decrease unit labour costs in the private sector. From this perspective, nothing has changed since the beginning of the crisis, for civil servants.
2. Any increase in wages would have to be justified with improvements in services provided by the State. However, there is evidence that the public is not satisfied with the level and quality of services provided. In its 2013 report (Third European Quality of Life Survey – Quality of society and public services), the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions finds that the perceived quality of public services in Portugal is well below European average.

Source: Eurofound (2013), Third European Quality of Life Survey – Quality of society and public services, Publications Office
of the European Union, Luxembourg

I do not mind paying civil servants well, as long as I receive a good service in return. The main problem is the low perceived quality of public services in Portugal and from this perspective, increasing wages does not make any sense at this stage.