Planalto sees electoral influence in threat of civil servants’ strike

Government officials and direct advisers to President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) say they see political-electoral influence in the threats of stoppages and strikes by civil servants for salary increases this year.

In the assessment of interlocutors from the Planalto and from the ministries, even though the request for the readjustment is legitimate, the movement may be driven by leftist denominations, historically linked to union centrals.

Privately, a minister said he believed the strikes could be stirred up by the opposition with the purpose of harming the government.

Officials are an important part of the voters of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Bolsonaro’s main opponent in the race for the Planalto Palace this year, according to polling intentions.

As soon as Bolsonaro announced his intention to grant a raise to civil servants — at the time, supposedly, all categories — members of the left classified the measure as voters.

“We received it as political opportunism and electoral measure,” stated deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), national president of the PT, in November.

“The PT is always in favor of readjustment for the server, but this one by Bolsonaro is about the politicking of those who have always been against the server,” stated Hoffmann.

Although public servants pressure, the possibility of discussing a generalized adjustment, however, is seen as unlikely, due to lack of space in the Budget.

Members of the economic team fear that, due to electoral pressure, the government’s political area will end up giving in and making an effort to meet the demands of public servants.

Some governors have already promised salary increases to civil servants in an election year, which raises the concern in the team of minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) for understanding that the federal government may want to go along the same lines to please these categories.

Criticisms of the Bolsonaro government were present, for example, at the meeting of Fonasefe (Forum of Federal Public Servants), which brings together 30 entities, such as employees in the areas of health, education, social security and social assistance.

These categories are discussed in line with the general strike on the 18th, organized by Fonacate (Permanent National Forum for Typical State Careers).

Together, these forums, according to the leadership of these organizations, represent more than 80% of the federal Executive’s staff, which today has approximately 585,000 assets.

The period of greatest fiscal generosity to civil servants in recent years occurred during the Lula administrations. In addition to robust adjustments, the former president also expanded the number of federal civil servants — a picture that has been reduced under Bolsonaro.

If confirmed, stoppages for one or two days in January and a general strike should harm the provision of public services and even the entry of imported products, which depend on inspection by the IRS.

Representatives of federal civil servants complain that the majority has a salary lagged by 27.2%, as there has been no readjustment since 2017.

The strike movement for salary increases was triggered after lobbying by federal police took effect and corporations received Bolsonaro’s promise that there will be resources for salary increases in 2022. These categories are part of his electoral base.

At the Palácio do Planalto, interlocutors say that the promise of salary adjustments for police officers has weakened the government’s ability to withstand pressure for readjustments from other categories of civil servants.

According to reports, a minister allegedly complained that the increase in police officers opened Pandora’s box, and that it would be difficult to control the pressure.

“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 the president of Fenapef (National Federation of Federal Police), Luís Antônio Boudens, in an interview with leaf.

Only PF, PRF and Depen (National Penitentiary Department), in addition to community health agents, obtained a promise of readjustment.

The Budget foresees R$1.7 billion for the readjustment, but there is no provision in the text for the use of this budget exclusively for these police careers. For this reason, several civil servants unions are mobilizing to get part of these resources.

However, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security is already working on the proposal to increase the categories.

Like leaf showed at the end of 2021, the government was studying the possibility of raising the maximum salary of a PF delegate to the ceiling of the civil service, currently at R$ 39,293.92 — the same as a minister of the STF (Supreme Federal Court).

The values ​​have not yet been closed, and government officials said that the definitions should come out in January. It will be necessary to accommodate police demands within what was made available in the 2022 Budget.

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.

The order in Guedes’ team is not to give in to pressure. In messages sent to ministers and members of the government, the minister in charge of the Economy asked for support against the broad readjustment of civil servants, which, according to him, could break the country and raise inflation.

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

The strike movement awaits the opening of formal negotiations with the government in January.

So far, there have only been occasional and separate meetings, for example, between the Civil House and Federal Revenue Service employees. Other careers in the Ministry of Economy should meet with the heads of areas.

UNDERSTAND THE MOBILIZATION OF FEDERAL SERVERS

1. What is the reason for dissatisfaction? Employees want salary readjustments not only for federal police officers ​
2. How is the movement for a public service strike going? Fonacate (Permanent National Forum for Typical State Careers) and Fonasefe (Forum of Federal Civil Servants Entities) discuss a stoppage in January and a general strike from February
3. How many servers are represented by these entities? More than 80% of the nearly 600,000 employees of the Executive, according to the top of these organizations
4. Which categories threaten to stop? CGU (General Comptroller of the Union), diplomats, foreign trade analyst, National Treasury, Federal Revenue, labor auditors, among others, such as health workers, Social Security and social assistance
5. What are the next steps? Each union must meet at an assembly and approve the strike in January