professionals threaten strike and companies fear bankruptcy

A study carried out by LCA Consultores for the Brazilian Federation of Hospitals (FBH) highlights that the national base of nurses, technicians and nursing assistants and midwives can make the operation of hundreds of small and medium-sized private establishments unsustainable. There are more than 1.2 million nursing professionals in the country, of which 74% receive less than the approved minimum wage.

Union entities linked to nurses are threatening a strike from March 10 if a solution is not found to pay the minimum wage for the category. An act must be held on the 14th to put pressure on.

Constitutional Amendment 124 and Law 14,434/2022, sanctioned in August by then-president Jair Bolsonaro, established the value of the national minimum wage for nurses, nursing technicians, nursing assistants and midwives. The thresholds established by law are BRL 4,750 for nurses, 70% of the threshold for auxiliaries (R$ 3,325) and half of the threshold for assistants and midwives (R$ 2,375).

The devices are the target of the direct action of unconstitutionality 7.222, which awaits judgment in the Federal Supreme Court. The application of the floor was suspended on September 4 by Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, granting a deadline for analyzing its impacts.

The main justifications for granting the injunction were the concrete risk of worsening health service provision in public hospitals and Santas Casas, risks to employability in the sector and financial impact.