About an hour before the start of the 2026 State Budget debate (OE2026) in Parliament, several dozen PSP officers and GNR guards lined up near the side entrance of the parliament to access the galleries and observe the opening of the budget debate, which the three structures that organized the protest criticize for not including the desired salary improvements.
Carlos Torres, president of the Independent Police Agents Union (SIAP), stated that issues such as professional status, salary indices, supplements, and access to early retirement need urgent revision to ensure career attractiveness. He lamented that topics on the agenda for the next meeting with the authorities are “secondary” compared to what the union deems priority.
Torres believes that both the current and previous governments have delayed resolving problems, worsening the lack of interest among young people to pursue this career and complicating early retirement for older personnel.
Today’s initiative was organized by three trade union structures only – SIAP, the National Association of Guard Sergeants (ANSG), and the Independent Socioprofessional Association of the Guard (ASPIG) — those that did not reach an agreement with the Government in July 2024 regarding the risk subsidy increase.
Ricardo Rodrigues, president of ANSG, identified the wage issue as the most pressing among security forces, highlighting the 16-year-old remuneration table and supplements “which no longer adequately compensate” for the work provided.
Using a GNR post commander as an example, he noted that the job supplement remains at 90 euros, a “considerable amount” in 2009 but now “completely residual” and misaligned with the associated responsibilities.
“There is a significant loss of purchasing power. (…) Then, the risk allowance granted on January 1, 2023, retroactively, to the Judicial Police. At the GNR, this supplement was given at half the value, i.e., 300 euros in July 2024. There was an expectation that on January 1, 2026, there would be a valorization through negotiations that should have occurred,” stated the union representative.
The issue, he explained, lies in the fact that the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, at the last meeting, did not commit to practical salary effects for police officers starting January 1 next year, which might only materialize in January 2027.
“This is our greatest concern because it defrauds the expectations that were created and undermines the agreement that was signed,” said the president of ANSG, who, like SIAP, considers pursuing other forms of protest if the Government does not make concessions.
Meanwhile, Mónica Madeira, president of ASPIG, regretted that the next meeting with the authorities will discuss the gratified table, evaluation regime, and occupational health and safety, “all measures which, although important, are not decisive for the living conditions of Guard members.”
