The allowance is paid for half of the period that the worker has contributed.

"Almost all workers today - including ones who are paid much less - contribute something toward their health insurance premiums," he said.

The workers contributed 2d (less than 1p) per week to the 'trip fund'.

It has also rejected the demand that workers contribute toward their health plan.

They said the state should use some of the extra money in the pension fund to reduce the amount that workers now contribute.

And he said it was unfair to tax benefits that workers had contributed toward throughout their lives.

Each worker contributed at least 100 hours of sweat equity.

Under the previous contract, workers contribute 2% to their pension plan.

The Government reported that last year nearly 400,000 workers contributed more than $680 million to the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Portuguese workers also contributed to this positive result, through the general strike of 24 November.