The main leaders of truck drivers are not satisfied with the favor offered to the category in the PECs (proposed amendments to the Constitution) filed in the House and Senate.
The proposals, which address the reduction of taxes on fuel, are palliative and do not even come close to solving the sector’s problems, in the opinion of drivers.
Wallace Landim, aka Chorão, who was one of the leaders of the 2018 truck drivers strike and is president of Abrava (Brazilian Association of Motor Vehicle Drivers), says that the only positive point of the PEC dos Combustíveis is the initiative.
“The intention is good, however, it is not going to focus on the problem, which is Petrobras’ price policy. Right now, we have to create a fund to stabilize and gradually lower fuel prices”, says Chorão.
For him, the solution would be the end of the PPI (import parity price), practiced since 2016 and calculated based on the purchase price of the fuel. “We sell our oil in reais and buy in dollars”, he complains.
José Roberto Stringasci, president of ANTB (national transport association), shares the opinion that the proposal makes no sense and is electoral. “Politicians who are candidates for this year’s elections have embraced this cause, but are unaware of it. And if they do, it’s just a political promise,” he says.
According to Stringasci, zeroing taxes will “break the states in terms of security, health and education” and, after a few months, prices will rise again.
The president of Sindicam-SP (union of autonomous transporters), Norival de Almeida Silva, also shows doubts about the PEC proposed by the Bolsonaro government.
“We are waiting for a PEC that really complements the carrier’s needs, so that we can work with more possibilities of having a more rewarding end of trip, both for us and for the final consumer, but we will wait to see what we can apply”, said Silva.
With the dispute provoked by the texts in the government and in Congress, the Bolsonaro administration is already considering the possibility of including the authorization to reduce taxes on diesel in a complementary bill being processed in the Senate.
Dubbed “PEC kamikaze” by Bolsonaro’s economic team, the Senate proposal exceeded the minimum number of signatures. In addition to relieving taxes, it increases expenses with gas assistance, subsidies for bus fares and creates a diesel assistance for truck drivers, but Minister Paulo Guedes’ team estimates an impact of around R$ 100 billion.
Joana Cunha with andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco
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