“The most beneficial measure at this moment for Azorean workers and a large part of families in the private sector is indeed the increase in the regional increment to the minimum wage,” emphasized Vítor Silva, a union leader and lead petitioner of the initiative “For the Increase of the Regional Increment to the National Minimum Wage in the Autonomous Region of the Azores,” during a hearing this afternoon at the General Policy committee of the Azorean parliament.
The Azores already have a regional increment to the national minimum wage, which increases the amount payable to workers by 5% over the prevailing wage in the rest of the national territory, but the petition submitted to parliament, signed by almost 4,000 people, demands that this increase rise to 10%.
“It would have a tremendous impact on the entire Azorean economy and an even greater social impact if we have the courage, politically, to increase this increment from 5% to 10%,” insisted Vítor Silva, noting that the labor market in the Azores is based on a low-wage model, where having a job is “no longer sufficient to keep poverty at bay.”
Also heard in the General Policy committee, the president of the Azores Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIA), Marcos Couto, expressed a position opposed to Vítor Silva, arguing that the increase in the minimum wage would negatively affect the accounts of Azorean companies, which are already “heavily penalized” by contextual expenses compared to the rest of the country.
“Azorean companies are severely punished by the already existing 5% increase over the national minimum wage,” said the businessman, highlighting that it is also the companies headquartered in the region that “have higher contextual costs” and yet are “obliged” to pay an additional 5% on the national minimum wage.
The businessman also stated that if the Azorean parliament legislates in favor of what is proposed in the petition, regional companies will have no choice but to pass on this salary increase to the final consumer in terms of goods.
The president of the Azores Agricultural Federation, Jorge Rita, also heard by the deputies, supported the opinion of the president of the Azores Chamber of Commerce and Industry, considering that this salary increase in the archipelago “is not viable” for regional employers, recalling that there already exists a “positive discrimination” with the current 5% increment.
“This increase is not feasible. The problem is not just paying an additional 10% to those earning the minimum wage, but also paying those earning above it,” warned Jorge Rita, cautioning that increasing only for those who earn less will make people feel “disincentivized” to work.
The president of the Agricultural Federation also reminded that the sector already faces increased problems related to rising inflation costs, insularity, and difficulties in recruiting personnel to work “even while paying higher wages.”
The national minimum wage in Portugal is 870 euros gross monthly (913.50 in the Azores), but this amount is expected to increase to 920 euros in 2026 (966 in the archipelago).
