Environmental servers maintain strike – 02/16/2024 – Environment

The federal government and Ascema (National Association of Environmental Servers) held a new negotiation meeting to improve careers in the area this Friday (16). The proposals put forward by the Ministries of Environment and Management, however, were not considered sufficient to end the strike, which began in January.

The last negotiating table had taken place on February 1st. According to Cleberson Zavaski, president of the association, the next meeting will be scheduled after the delivery of a new counter-proposal from the government, which should take place by Wednesday next week.

Servers complain that, despite the environmental issue being at the center of President Lula’s (PT) speech, their career was not valued, even after years of scrapping and attacks during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

“The proposal presented still has several points that do not meet the category’s central demands. The mobilization of civil servants will continue until there is an agreement with the government”, says Zavaski.

The demand for a new career plan, salary increase and better working conditions for the sector escalated in 2023, until 2024 begins with localized strikes.

According to a survey by Ascema, in January, 470 infraction notices were issued by Ibama, a 70% reduction compared to the 2023 average, when around 1,566 notices were registered per month.

There was also a 52% drop in the issuance of environmental licenses in January compared to last year’s monthly average.

“The mobilization has support from practically 100% of employees from Ibama, ICMBio, the Forestry Service and the Ministry of the Environment”, says Zavaski.

At the beginning of the month, several withdrawals of employees who had expressed interest in working in inspection operations in the Amazon and the Yanomami Indigenous Land were also recorded.

According to an Ibama document, of the 87 people who initially volunteered to work, only 4 confirmed, after the strike was declared, their willingness to go into the field.

In a statement, when commenting on the mobilization of civil servants at the beginning of the month, the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services said that the recomposition of the workforce in the federal public administration is a “priority issue”.

The ministry stated that “it has been acting within the possible and budgetary limits to meet the demands of the bodies and entities of the federal Executive”.

The ministry highlighted that, in 2023, it reached an agreement for a linear adjustment of 9% for all employees, in addition to a 43.6% increase in food assistance.

“In the second half of 2023, the debate on readjustment for the year 2024 began. As part of this process, 21 specific tables were opened to deal with some careers. Within the scope of the specific tables alone, seven agreements for career restructuring have already been closed”, said Management.