TST suspends Eletrobras PDV – 09/01/2023 – Market

A decision by the TST (Superior Labor Court), handed down on Friday night (1st), suspended Eletrobras’ PDV (voluntary resignation plan) for 15 days. Appeal is possible.

Sought by the report, Eletrobras did not manifest itself until the publication of this report.

The PDV provided for the departure of up to 1,574 employees, in search of savings of R$ 450 million to R$ 750 million. The first version, held last year, had almost 2,500 subscribers. The shutdowns were carried out until April, and with an estimated annual savings of R$ 1.1 billion.

The decision of the rapporteur of the case, Minister Alexandre Agra Belmonte, meets the request of Fenatema (the federation that represents workers in the areas of generation, transmission and distribution of energy and water) and the union base of workers in Furnas, one of Eletrobras’ subsidiaries.

“I believe it prudent to determine the suspension of the feat for 15 days, and also to determine the suspension of the dismissals of all those who adhered to the 2023 PDV whose approval has not yet been made, as well as the suspension of the deadlines of the 2023 PDV, under penalty of a fine of R$ 1,000 for each worker in this situation in which the suspension is not respected, based on the knowledge of this decision”, says the minister.

Lawyer Marcus Neves says that the process was filed on July 20, when registration for the PDV ended, because workers feared the departure of more experienced colleagues.

“We argued from the beginning that a significant number of professionals with more than 30 years at the company and with high technical training could leave the company, which was a risk for the operation”, says Neves.

“The alert materialized with the blackout on August 15, and the rapporteur was sensitive to the issue.”

In the decision, Minister Agra Belmonte points out that he made different arrangements to obtain a negotiation for the case, but that he had no alternative, since Eletrobras did not manifest itself and maintained the shutdown schedule.

The MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) letters that were attached to the process weighed in the decision. In the documents, the folder expresses the same concern presented in the process by the employees.

As anticipated by Sheet, The MME sent two letters to the presidency of Eletrobras requesting the suspension of the PDV. In the second, he highlighted that the blackout reinforced his fears.

“The original event, called ‘zero event’, occurred in assets operated by Chesf, a subsidiary of Eletrobras”, said minister Alexandre Silveira in the second letter sent to the company on Wednesday (30).

“I reiterate that, as the Union is the company’s largest shareholder and the MME is responsible for ensuring the balance between supply and demand for electricity in the country, it is legitimate, rational and important for this department to have access to such information.”

The suspension of the PDV in court comes at a time when the government is intensifying its criticism of privatization.

On the day of the blackout, first lady Rosângela da Silva, Janja, even used her social networks to link the privatization of Eletrobras to the blackout.

In early May, the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) entered the STF (Supreme Federal Court) with an ADI (direct action of unconstitutionality) asking that the government have a vote proportional to its shareholding.

The block that brings together the Union, BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) and its equity arm BNDESPar has about 35% of the common shares, but acts as a minority after the capitalization.