Lula meets with trade union centrals amid debate on readjustment of the minimum wage

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meets this Wednesday (18) with trade union centrals. The meeting takes place after meetings between the Chief Executive and the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), with the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, and the Executive Secretary of Finance, Gabriel Galipolo, to discuss the matter.

The meeting is scheduled for 11 am at the Planalto Palace. This morning, on Twitter, Lula highlighted today’s commitment with the union centrals and said that “it was four years in which workers were not heard by the federal government”. “We are going to return to dialogue with everyone to think about changes in the world of work and a better life for the people”, declared the president.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, who works on the agenda in Davos, Switzerland, stated that the decision on increasing the minimum wage is up to the government and will be taken after negotiations with the union centrals. According to him, a debate table will be opened to define a level for the four years of the Lula 3 administration.

As shown by Estadão / Broadcast, the president is considering adjusting the minimum wage in 2023 above the BRL 1,320 provided for in the Budget. However, the amount has yet to be defined. A wing of the government defends that this expense be funded with part of the cut of BRL 50 billion in spending proposed by Haddad, last week.

The trade union centrals, however, assess the value of R$ 1,320 of the new minimum, foreseen by the government, as low, and propose an amount in the range of R$ 1,340, found out the Estadão / Broadcast.