Josué Gomes rejects assembly of dissatisfied at Fiesp

An assembly requested by 78 unions linked to Fiesp (Federação das Indústrias de São Paulo), seen as a move to pressure the current president, Josué Gomes, to resign, will not be convened.

In a meeting of the board on Monday (7), Gomes said that, by the statute of the federation, requests for assembly must be accompanied by objective and detailed reasons. According to people close to the conflict, he consulted jurists on the matter.

Fiesp says it does not comment on the entity’s internal affairs.

People at the meeting described the meeting as tense. Leaders against and in favor of holding the assembly exposed their arguments, being booed and applauded at the same time. Terms like “wash the dirty clothes”, “shack” and “heavy weather” were used side by side.

A leader of an entity that signed the order says he understands that the assembly is the appropriate forum to discuss the unions’ dissatisfaction with the current management, since only their representatives participate. At the board meetings, on the other hand, there are guests and other hired professionals who have come to occupy management positions in the Gomes administration.

These positions motivate part of the rift between the unions and the current administration. The central reason for the dissatisfaction, say leaders, is that the administration of Josué Gomes would have emptied the presence and influence of the unions in the councils and directorships, traditionally occupied by people appointed by the entities.

Currently, many of the federation’s boards are occupied by hired professionals. The current presidents created advisory councils – he mentioned this measure in his explanation during the meeting – to decentralize decisions, previously concentrated on the presidency.

The new appointments, well seen outside the building on Avenida Paulista, displeased old leaders, used to making their appointments and commanding sectors of the entities.

Although Josué Gomes received the support of Paulo Skaf, his management style, cited by some as less political and more discreet than his predecessor, left many leaders dissatisfied. Skaf would have been, in his 17 years at the helm of the federation, closest to union leaders.

A leader heard by the Sheet considers it unfair to attribute to Skaf the gestation of the letter that asked for the assembly to be held. The former president of Fiesp would have participated in some meetings and was sought by allies to intercede with the current direction.

Whoever pulled the order, however, would not have been him, but his allies. Even among leaders who are not close to the current administration, the request for an assembly and even the pressure on Gomes are viewed with reservations.

According to reports, one of the leaders who rose to defend the rejection of the convening of the assembly is an opponent of Josué Gomes who, in the election for the presidency last year, also opposed Skaf.

But Josué also receives support from those who supported opponents.

Synésio Batista Costa, from Sindibrinquedos (Toy Industries Union), who is also president of Abrinq (Brazilian Toy Industry Association), told Sheet who disagrees with the articulation for holding the assembly.

“I defended that under no circumstances are we going to tear up the statute”, he said, about his participation in the meeting. Costa supported the slate headed by José Ricardo Roriz, from the plastics industry.

Josué’s opponents defend autonomous convening of assembly

Josué Gomes has until Sunday, the 20th, to convene or not the assembly requested by the unions. Leaders linked to the group that opposes him argue that the statute provides for “self-convocation”. If, by then, Gomes does not call the meeting, the unions intend to publish the letter sent to the presidency of the entity, already foreseeing the holding of the assembly ten days later.

The president of Fiesp proposed meetings with the unions, regardless of the decision on the assembly. Fiesp has 131 employers’ unions, of which 106 would have voting rights.

As anticipated by the Panel SA column, pressure on Josué Gomes intensified in the middle of this year after Fiesp released its guidelines for presidential candidates, read internally as opposing President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for defending respect for the rule of law.

The name of Josué Gomes has been mentioned as one of those quoted to assume the Ministry of Industry in the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Skaf, his predecessor, declared his vote for Bolsonaro (he was even quoted as deputy to Tarcísio de Feitas (Republicans) in the race for the government of São Paulo).

In August, the federation also organized a manifesto of entities in defense of democracy. Only 13.7% of the affiliated unions endorsed the publication. Ciesp (Center for Industries of the State of São Paulo) also did not sign.

To the Sheet, Rafael Cervone, president of Ciesp and vice president of Fiesp, said that talking about a split in the federation was “crazy”. The absence of the entity in the document would have occurred, according to him, due to lack of time to discuss the matter with the unions.