Federal servers threaten strike in February after acts emptied, and government shuts up

After handovers of positions and a reduction in the pace of activities, federal civil servants took to the streets in an attempt to increase pressure on the government and manage to open negotiations for salary increases.

Faced with the silence of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government in the face of the acts, some categories already plan to start a strike in the second half of February.

The demonstrations in Brasília took place this Tuesday (18) in front of the headquarters of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Economy. The mobilization had low adherence in other states, as in the acts in Rio de Janeiro and Recife.

The restrained adhesion was already expected by the unions, due to the increase in the transmission rate of Covid-19 in the Federal District and the vacation of many servers. Even so, it fueled criticism from the few government members who commented on the mobilization.

The government leader in the Chamber, deputy Ricardo Barros (PP-PR), said that the movement was “very weak”. “No [assustou o governo]. I thought it was weak,” he told leaf.

In an attempt not to increase the visibility of the acts and their repercussions, including political ones, members of the economic area avoided, even behind the scenes, commenting on the actions of the civil servants. Officially, the Ministry of Economy said it will not comment.

Wanted, the Planalto Palace also did not comment on the protest.

The fight for salary readjustments began at the end of December, after Bolsonaro waved raises only for federal police officers. At the government’s request, Congress set aside R$1.7 billion in the 2022 Budget to cover the extra expense with the readjustment.

The tax auditors of the Federal Revenue were the first to react, with the delivery of commissioned positions and the beginning of the standard operation, which already affects some ports and borders.

This Tuesday’s acts began with a strike by Central Bank servers, followed by an act in front of the institution’s building. The union of the category says that 50% of the servers stopped their activities for a period of two hours, in the morning.

In the afternoon, the servers performed another act, this time in front of the main building of the Ministry of Economy, where Minister Paulo Guedes dispatches.

Union leaders claim that employees from around 40 categories participated and that the acts brought together 500 to 600 people. The representatives say that this number of protesters was already expected, in view of the resurgence of the ômicron variant, which increased the number of cases of infection with the new coronavirus.

Guedes was the main target of the protesters. A puppet with his image had a poster around his neck, mentioning the fact that the minister had an offshore account. At another time, this same doll was holding a grenade, in reference to the phrase he said at a ministerial meeting in April 2020, that the suspension of readjustments would be a “grenade in the enemy’s pocket”.

At the time, the suspension of readjustments for two years was included by Congress as a counterpart to the help given by the Union to states and municipalities due to the Covid-19 crisis. The fence, however, ended on January 31, 2021.

Employees from the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Comptroller General, the Legislature, the Central Bank, the Judiciary, among others participated in the demonstration.

Opposition parliamentarians such as deputies Erika Kokay (PT-DF) and Professor Israel Batista (PV-DF) also attended the act in front of the Ministry of Economy.

“It’s a sign. I think the message was given to the government: it’s time to sit down and negotiate with federal public servants”, says the president of Fonacate (Permanent National Forum for Typical State Careers), Rudinei Marques.

“This mobilization starts now, but has no date to end. It only ends with the replacement of at least the inflationary losses we had since January 2017 until now, which have reached more than 28%”.

Fonacate defends the 28% readjustment because it is the size of the inflationary loss in the last five years. Other forums that represent civil servants want a replacement of 19.9% ​​(inflation variation from 2019 to today), such as Fonasefe (Forum of National Entities of Federal Public Servants), which represents a broader range of careers, including those with lower salaries. .

The entity delivered a letter to the Ministry of Economy, in which they ask for an audience with Paulo Guedes to discuss the issue. Rudinei Marques says that the procedure is intended to officially signal that the category is open to negotiation, to avoid legal questioning in the event of a strike.

“We are now going to prepare the ground there so that at the beginning of February we can deliberate on a strike for an indefinite period”, said the president of the forum, who says that some rites and assemblies are necessary, before the stoppage is determined.

“In our assessment, at the beginning of February, in the first week, in the first fortnight, to forward all the formalities and then, if necessary, enter with a more incisive wall movement”, he added.

The leaders believe that a strike could not start much later than the second fortnight, as they consider the budget window “too short”, going until the end of March.

“We are going to try to open the negotiation process, dialogue. Today was just one day, next week it will be two days and gradually we are tightening things on this side, when the other side doesn’t want to talk. And then it can culminate in the issue of the strike, which is being built there in February and March”, says Sérgio Ronaldo da Silva, secretary general of Condisef (Confederation of Workers in the Federal Public Service) and Fonasefe.

The union leaders claim that the strike and the acts of this Tuesday were not intended to affect the execution of services. In the case of the Central Bank, the servers paralyzed their activities between 10 am and 12 pm. According to the president of Sinal (National Union of Central Bank Employees), Fábio Faiad, 50% of the agency’s employees crossed their arms during this period.

Despite the stoppage, Faiad says that BC services were not affected.

“Today, the idea was not to impact, all services were maintained. The impact is more political, to show the indignation of the servers with the situation”, he said.

The Central Bank did not comment on the act, which is part of the national mobilization of the civil service for salary recomposition.

Mobilization has low adherence in other states

The mobilization had low adherence outside Brasília. Cities like Rio de Janeiro and Recife registered acts with few participants this Tuesday and leaders believe that the recent advance of Covid-19 cases made it difficult for greater adherence.

One of the protests in downtown Rio took place in the vicinity of the State Superintendence of the Ministry of Health. Around 11 am, around 40 people gathered at the site.

On one banner, protesters called for a readjustment for all federal health workers. The act was criticized for Bolsonaro and the minister Paulo Guedes.

“We have not readjusted for eight years. inflation reached double digits, and purchasing power declined,” said José Ribamar de Lima, director of SintSaúde-RJ (Union of Workers in the Fight against Endemic Diseases and Preventive Health in the State of Rio de Janeiro).

“The government has money for other areas, for the military, for the secret budget, for the police, but says it doesn’t have it for health, which was victimized in the pandemic”, he criticized.

Another act took place in front of the Ministry of Economy building in the center of the state capital. By 12 noon, there were around ten protesters.

“We are demanding the replacement of salary losses. If a career is going to have an increase, all must have it. Isonomy is necessary”, reported Ana Maria Balthar, president of Unacon Sindical-RJ (National Union of Federal Auditors and Technicians of Finance and Control in Rio de Janeiro). of January).

In Recife (PE), federal civil servants held an act in the morning in the city center. The protest asked for readjustment for all servers.

Since Monday (17), sound cars circulate in front of the workplaces of the categories in defense of salary increases.

On the eve of the protests, leaders did not rule out the carrying out of acts by Federal Revenue Service employees. at airports in the country. Tom Jobim International Airport, Galeão, in Rio, did not register an impact, according to the RIOgaleão concessionaire. Santos Dumont, another Rio de Janeiro terminal, only operates domestic flights, and therefore there is no customs area operated by the Federal Revenue Service.