Bolsonaro had a lot of support from the police, and this could be a fruitful moment, says federation

Amid the campaign for career restructuring and salary increase, the president of Fenapef (National Federation of Federal Police Officers), Luís Antônio Boudens, said that the electoral support of the category for President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is greater than among the military, who, according to him, they were benefited during negotiations with the federal government, for example, in the Social Security reform.

“As the president [Bolsonaro] had a lot of support from the federal police categories, mainly the Federal Police and PRF [Polícia Rodoviária Federal], I believe it can be a fruitful moment,” said Boudens in an interview with leaf.

Bolsonaro promised a raise for police officers, the president’s electoral base, in 2022. This sparked a movement that even threatened to strike in the federal public service.

Representatives of the civil servants’ elite, such as diplomats, foreign trade analysts, the National Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, the CGU (General Comptroller of the Union) and labor auditors, are mobilizing for Bolsonaro to give a general salary adjustment. The Ministry of Economy is against this concession.

Boudens denies that the police are being privileged by the government or charging the bill for the election of President Bolsonaro. These corporations say there is a lag in wages relative to other categories.

He cites that there was a lot of damage to the police in measures adopted by the government, such as the Social Security reform and administrative reform – in the social security restructuring, Bolsonaro intervened and Congress approved more lenient rules for these corporations; and the administrative reform has not yet been approved.

“The government did not have a direct look at the police. It is an exaggeration to say that it had a privilege. If it were true, the government would have already sent it [previsto a reestruturação das carreiras] from the start [da discussão do Orçamento”, afirmou Boudens.

Ele também faz uma comparação com os militares, que tiveram uma reestruturação das carreiras junto com a reforma da Previdência.

O aumento aos policiais foi um pedido do próprio presidente Bolsonaro. Apenas PF, PRF (Polícia Rodoviária Federal) e Depen (Departamento Penitenciário Nacional), além de agentes comunitários de saúde, obtiveram previsão de reajuste dentro do funcionalismo. O Orçamento prevê R$ 1,7 bilhão para o reajuste para essas corporações.

O plano, que teve apoio também do ministro da Justiça, Anderson Torres, era que a reestruturação dessas carreiras chegasse a R$ 2,8 bilhões no próximo ano. Mas, diante do aperto no Orçamento, a verba foi reduzida. Isso exigirá uma reformulação do projeto.

O apoio político do reajuste salarial a policiais gerou uma pressão para que o governo também dê aumento para diversas outras categorias, que ameaçam com paralisação de um ou dois dias em janeiro e, se a negociação por reajuste generalizado não avançar, deve ser discutida uma greve em fevereiro.

Boudens disse que “buscar recomposição pela inflação é direito de todos servidores”. A.
Fenapef, que representa 14,1 mil funcionários públicos, não deve aderir ao movimento grevista. “Há decisões da Justiça que nos impedem de fazer greve. Somos serviço essencial de segurança pública”, argumentou.

A Polícia Federal se sente confortável em fazer esse tipo de solicitação [reestruturação da carreira]. We are a surplus body,” said Boudens, referring to resources that go to public coffers as a result of the category’s actions, such as apprehensions, funds recovered due to investigations against corruption, in addition to fees charged for issuing passports and immigration.

The differentiated treatment, after Bolsonaro’s promise, arouses the indignation of the deprecated categories.

While the president beckons with raises to 45,000 police officers, about 1 million federal employees have been without pay for five years.

In PF, the remuneration of an agent ranges from R$12,522.50 to R$18,651.79 per month. Delegates, in turn, earn from R$23,692.74 to R$30,936.91. In the PRF, maturities range from R$ 9,899.88 to R$ 16,552.34 per month.

The salary pyramid of the federal Executive, however, shows that 4.72% of active civil servants receive up to R$ 3,000 monthly. Another 23.54% earn between R$3,000 and R$6,000.

The pressure for a generalized readjustment has grown since last week and the civil servants’ elite promises to unite in a general strike if they don’t make progress in the negotiations for a salary increase.

This worries the economic team. In messages sent to ministers and government members, minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) asked for support against the wide-ranging readjustment of civil servants, which, according to him, could break the country.

In the government’s calculations, each 1% linear increase to all employees has an impact of R$ 3 billion.

Boudens said the budgetary impact of restructuring police careers is small.

According to him, the general strike movement can hinder the articulation by restructuring police careers. “But President Bolsonaro has been very firm in consolidating what he has already pledged to do.”