Pfizer fires to change sales strategy, workers protest

The dismissal of 126 workers at the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, responsible for the development of one of the vaccines against Covid-19, led professionals to a protest at the company’s office, this Wednesday (25), in the south of São Paulo.

About 70 propagandists-salespeople who had their jobs cut took up part of the company. Some had access to the interior of the place and others stayed at the door.

According to Antonio Silvan Oliveira, president of the CNTQ (National Confederation of Workers in the Chemical Industry), the former employees are carrying out what they call an “occupation strike” with the intention of opening negotiations with Pfizer. They claim that they do not accept the cuts or what has been offered to professionals.

The union counts about 150 layoffs, but Pfizer confirms 126. According to Silvam, the company is offering compensation, which was not detailed, in exchange for workers to sign a term that does not allow them to claim labor funds in the future in court. .

“The company offers an agreement that we understand is unrealistic. They hired a law firm to call the professionals and settle the debts, cutting any future legal relationship between the parties”, says Silvam.

For the unionist, Pfizer should have “social responsibility” and could not fire professionals who risked their lives in the Covid-19 pandemic, working to promote the sale of medicines. “It is one of the companies that most profited from the sale of vaccines in the pandemic”, he says.

In a note, Pfizer says it is transforming the company into a biopharmaceutical organization, which requires changes in the interaction with health professionals. “As a result of this transformation, we no longer have the activity of promotion and medical advertising through representatives, propagandists, promoters and consultants”, says the text.

The company reports that the total number of layoffs in the area represents 7% of the workforce that currently exists in the country. “Many colleagues who had the right profile for this new way of working took on new positions”, he says.

“We value the important contributions of our colleagues and, as a result, all those affected by the shutdown will have an additional support package to that provided for in the legislation, which consists of financial support and the extension of health benefits”, adds the note. , without specifying the package offered to workers.

Trade unionists claim that they were attended by a representative of the company and another from the pharmaceutical sector, but there was no agreement. According to the union, Pfizer’s revenue was US$ 25.7 billion (R$ 123.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2022.

Estimates are that Pfizer’s revenue reached at least US$ 35 billion (R$ 168.7 billion) just from the sale of vaccines against Covid in 2021. The value of the company’s shares soared.

Regarding the layoffs, the company stated that “the company acts in line with current legislation”.

Supreme Court will decide on collective layoffs

Although the company claims that only 7% of its current staff of propagandists will be fired, the union believes that the dismissal has a greater percentage impact, which, for professionals, would require collective bargaining between the parties. However, the 2017 labor reform brought new rules, which are under discussion in the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

The process in the Supreme Court has general repercussions and what is decided will be applied to other cases. The trial started last year, but was interrupted by a request for views. The CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) did not provide for a veto or release of layoffs without negotiation.

This changed with the 2017 labor reform, which equated collective dismissal with individual dismissals, in which the employer does not need to negotiate or communicate the union of the category about the cuts. The change in legislation did not prevent new actions, proposed by labor prosecutors and unions.

Keila Freitas, a lawyer specializing in labor law at Ferrareze e Freitas Advogados, states that collective dismissal usually occurs with the dismissal of a mass of employees without any distinct causes and without even opening a job demand, that is, there is not replacement by another group of workers.

“The courts do not welcome this type of attitude, as it has a harmful effect not only on dismissed employees, but on society as a whole”, she says.

The lawyer affirms that the TST (Superior Labor Court) has an established understanding of the social responsibility of companies, therefore, it strives for prior negotiation with the union. In the case of the extrajudicial agreement, she says that it is a legal instrument and “can be operated as long as the will of the parties is respected”.