As a consequence the recently published articles in the Azores, through the Açoriano Oriental newspaper, and at a national level in the Diário de Notícias last Tuesday, concerning the alleged statements of the Regional Secretary of the Presidency about the salary raises at the Lajes Air Base, the Government clarifies the following:
1. The Government of the Azores, through its representatives in the Permanent Bilateral Commission (CBP) Agreement on Cooperation and Defence between Portugal and the United States, has publicly conveyed its disagreement whenever the amount proposed as salary raise for the Portuguese workers at the Lajes Air Base did not correspond to the salary determined by the salary survey – as it happened in 2009 – being accompanied by the Base Command and the national delegation to the CBP.
2. Due to a divergence of legal interpretation between the North American party and the Portuguese party regarding the implementation of the salary survey, both parties have sought a new solution since May 2007 and negotiated a new system to determine salary raises which culminated in the agreement signed in July last year, which for the Government of the Azores, is more transparent, predictable and meets the interests of the Portuguese workers than the salary survey.
3. The hearing of the Secretary of the Presidency at the General Policy Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores on this matter, which supposedly served as the basis for the articles in question, was opened to the media, at the request of the Regional Secretary; therefore the Government does not understand the reason why the aforementioned articles use inaccurate statements that do not correspond to what has been actually said during the Commission. This situation can only be explained by the fact that the author of the articles in question did not attend the hearing.