Bolsonaro's calling card

On his very first day in office, the president of Fake News presented his calling card to workers, retirees, and the poorest: a reduction in the minimum wage by R$ 8. On the 1st, Bolsonaro published the decree setting the minimum wage at R$ 998, lower than the R$ 1.006 that was in the budget approved by the National Congress. A swindle of R$ 96 from the pockets of the poorest this year. 

 

Bolsonaro's team argues that each real increase in the minimum wage causes a R$ 300 million increase in government spending. This is the typical calculation of someone who makes decisions sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of a room in Brasília, far removed from the reality of the 48 million workers who use the minimum wage as a reference point. This cold calculation also fails to consider the positive impact that the minimum wage adjustment has on the economies of small municipalities. What these economists' calculations make clear is what the priorities of this newly inaugurated government will be: the bosses, the wealthiest, those in power. 

 

When President Lula invited me to take over the Ministry of Labor and Employment, I stipulated as conditions for accepting that I would have the support to confront the economic team and the autonomy to create a policy for the permanent adjustment of the minimum wage. Because, unlike the current administration, President Lula always prioritized the poorest and the workers, I had complete freedom and support to develop and approve the policy for the permanent adjustment of the minimum wage in less than a year, with the support of all the labor unions.

 

Unfortunately, what began with the coup against President Dilma and is now being consolidated with the election of this government of fake news – elected with the support of the consortium formed by the economic elite, the judiciary, and the mainstream media – is the destruction of each and every social right.

 

We need to be prepared for a tough period of struggle and confrontation, and ensure that everything we have achieved through hard work is not destroyed by those who only think about maintaining the benefits and advantages that make the social divide in the country ever deeper. We are only at the beginning of our long journey. To resist and to fight are the watchwords.