Lula government rejects increase in benefits outside of agreement – 04/07/2024 – Market

The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government will call this week an extraordinary meeting of the salary negotiation table in an attempt to contain the escalation of the federal civil service strike movement.

The employees rejected a proposal from Minister Esther Dweck (Management and Innovation) to increase the value of food assistance, daycare and health benefits in 2024, which also included a salary adjustment of 4.5% in 2025 and 2026.

The table is the government’s main negotiating forum and has 20 representatives appointed by more than 40 entities representing civil service careers.

Even saying no to the agreement, the unions are demanding that the government readjust benefits this month.

According to people familiar with the negotiations heard by the SheetDweck does not agree to correct the benefit values ​​without agreeing on the other points — the main one, the adjustment for the last two years of the Lula government.

The pressure increased because the employees’ expectation was that the salary slip, which closes on the 15th, would already contain the new benefit values. Dweck, however, warned the team that he will only make this move after signing the agreement.

The board meeting, which should take place on Wednesday or Thursday, is an attempt by the government to find a way out before the strikes are extended.

Some categories are already on strike, such as employees at federal institutes, and there are indications of new additions. Higher education teachers approved a strike plan from April 15th. University technicians have been on strike since March 11th.

Teachers represent a third of the Executive’s payroll, and the mobilization of the category put the government on alert on the eve of the Labor Day celebrations, on May 1st, a symbolic date for the PT.

The government does not want to run the risk of granting an adjustment to benefits now and the unions not reaching an agreement later. If there is an agreement at the meeting, the June sheet may be published with the correction of benefits retroactively.

Servers insist on a salary adjustment also in 2024, but the Ministry of Management warned that there is no fiscal space. The Budget has a reserve of R$2.7 billion to correct benefits.

According to the proposal presented to employees, benefits will be adjusted by around 51%.

Food assistance increases from R$658 to R$1,000; daycare allowance (preschool assistance) increases from R$321 to R$484.90; and health aid (per capita of complementary health) from R$ 144.00 to R$ 215.

The Ministry of Management made an effort in Congress, at the end of last year, to remove the lock on the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) that prevented the correction of benefits in a percentage higher than the accumulated inflation since the last adjustment.

For the government, the salary proposal presented guarantees an adjustment of 19.2% over the four years of the Lula government (2023-2026), above the inflation projected for the period of around 16%.

In the case of food assistance, the value of R$1,000 offered by the government will be close to those practiced in the Legislative and Judiciary, which pay R$1,393 (almost a minimum wage, currently R$1,412).

Last year, Lula granted a linear adjustment of 9% to all civil servants, interrupting the six-year period without adjustment for most careers.

The government has insisted that the increase in benefits for active employees who earn up to R$10,000 per month would represent, in practice, a 4.5% increase in salary.

In a letter sent on the 1st, Fonacate (Permanent National Forum for Typical State Careers) intensified the pressure, demanding that Dweck take steps to “immediately” implement the readjustment of benefits.

The forum also requested the equality of these benefits in relation to the values ​​practiced by the Legislative and Judiciary Powers until the end of 2026. Depending on the categories, civil servants request an adjustment between 7% and 11% in three annual installments.

In addition to the national table, the government is negotiating the restructuring of specific careers.

In the case of Central Bank employees and agricultural inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Management has already warned that it has reached its limit in the latest proposal and that the federal government will not give in any further.

In these cases, it will be up to the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, and the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, to take the appropriate measures, said a member of the negotiating table.

The government considers that the proposed adjustment of 23% in two installments (2025 and 2026) is advantageous. Salaries at the top of the BC career go from R$29 thousand to R$36 thousand.

The Ministry of Management also said that the season for granting efficiency and productivity bonuses is “over”.

The granting of this type of bonus, such as those obtained by Revenue and Labor inspectors, which were regulated by the federal government last week, led to dissatisfied government employees with the risk of a cascade effect on civil servants.

As shown by Sheetsome careers make occasional stoppages, work in “standard operations” (routine with greater bureaucracy, with a negative impact on service time) or promote mobilization actions.

The list includes employees from the Central Bank, Treasury, Revenue, CVM (Securities Commission), foreign trade analysts and members of environmental careers (such as ICMBio and Ibama).

Fonasefe (Forum of National Entities of Federal Public Servants) called for a national march in Brasília for April 17th.