Fiesp has war of versions and Josué calls assembly ‘clandestine’

Fiesp (Federation of Industries of São Paulo) comes to the end of this week in the midst of a kind of war of versions about the removal of its president, Josué Gomes. For the opposition, he is no longer president of the entity, while his allies see illegal maneuvers to force him out.

This Friday (20), already at the beginning of the night, unions linked to the federation began to receive a correspondence by email informing that the vice-president Elias Miguel Haddad took over the interim presidency of the entity.

About two hours later, Josué Gomes released an extrajudicial notification in which he says he received “with absolute surprise” the inauguration of Elias Haddad and that this happened “in continuity with the dubious purpose of removing a regularly elected president with an ongoing mandate”.

In the first public demonstration on the subject, Josué Gomes classifies the assembly that voted for his dismissal as clandestine. The president of Fiesp also states that “such an isolated, disproportionate, irresponsible attitude” causes economic, legal and labor risks.

According to the email sent and signed by Elias Miguel Haddad, he informs that he took over as a result of the decision taken at the extraordinary general meeting held on the 16th, when the council of representatives, “after listening to the defense arguments and rejecting them, decided to dismiss Josué Gomes from office”.

Earlier, Fiesp had confirmed a schedule for Josué Gomes scheduled for next Monday (23). On Thursday, presidents and representatives of trade unions at Fiesp began to receive an invitation from Gomes to a meeting to form a “committee to improve governance.”

At the assembly on the 16th, there was a suggestion for the creation of a working group with the unions to discuss improvements in Fiesp’s management. In the invitation he sent, Josué Gomes says that he was committed to the proposal and that, therefore, he wanted to discuss with the unions who would participate, the number of members and the term of validity.

Elias Haddad informs, in the communiqué of his inauguration, that the meeting on Monday would be cancelled. “We also inform you that it will not be possible to hold the meeting called for next Monday, the 23rd, at 5 pm, to discuss the format of the Governance Improvement Committee(s),” says the statement to which The Sheet had access.

In another section, the communiqué states that “Fiesp’s management values ​​strict compliance with its bylaws and good coexistence among the peers that make up the institution. Thus, it will spare no effort to pacify the entity and turns its focus to relevant issues for the productive sector and the process of reindustrialization of the country.”

He signs the statement “Acting President”.

The federation’s bylaws provide that the successor is chosen by the board within 30 days of dismissal. This new president is chosen from among the three numbered vice-presidents, as the first, second and third vice-presidents are called – Rafael Cervone Neto, Dan Ioschpe and Marcelo Campos Ometto.

Until the holding of the meeting that would decide for one of the three, the oldest vice-president, Elias Miguel Haddad, aged 95, remains in the presidency.

For delegates who were present at Monday’s assembly, the invitation to the meeting was read as a sign that Josué Gomes does not consider the vote for his removal legitimate. A leader who asked not to be identified said he considered it acceptable for Josué to challenge the result or even take the case to court, but that he could not ignore the decision taken at the assembly.

In the notification released this Friday, Josué Gomes communicates that “no act, including eventual and abusive dismissal of employees, is authorized by this presidency.”

He also says that “those responsible will suffer administrative, labor and eventually consequences in other spheres” and that the notification would be valid for “unequivocal knowledge of the illegality of the acts carried out this afternoon”. The president of Fiesp affirms that the measures demonstrate the “ambition of in any way improperly occupying” the presidency of the entity.

The extraordinary plenary held on the 16th is subject to more than one interpretation. Allies of Josué Gomes understand that his dismissal was not the object of the summons made by him in an edict published in December.

For the opposition, however, the convening of the assembly is based on the article of the statute that deals with the loss of mandate. Furthermore, a group of trade unions had called an assembly to discuss the conduct of Josué Gomes as president of Fiesp. When the entity’s president called the extraordinary plenary, they backed off and accepted that the discussion would be held on the same day.

The second assembly, where the dismissal was approved by 47 of the voters, was held when Josué Gomes and about 30 other union representatives had already left the building. Gomes’ lawyer, Miguel Reale Jr, considers that only the first meeting held on the 16th is valid.

This Friday, Josué was in Brasília (DF), on an official agenda with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) at the Planalto Palace. The two are close; Lula even invited him to take over the Industry portfolio. In the agenda of the President of the Republic, Gomes is identified as president of Fiesp.

During the week, Fiesp made its first statement on the matter. It released a note in which it states that Josué Gomes is the president of the entity and is carrying out his duties, according to the statute.

Since the crisis between the current president and union leaders dissatisfied with his management went beyond the limits of the building on Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo, Fiesp had not yet made any comment.