Educators: Pension reform is 'a return to the times of slavery'

Senate Agency - The Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC 6/2019), which deals with pension reform, was harshly criticized by Education workers who participated in a public hearing of the Human Rights and Participatory Legislation Committee (CDH), this Tuesday (19).

According to Antônio Alves Neto, coordinator of the Federation of Unions of Workers in Brazilian Universities (Fasubra), the changes in retirement rules for professors, combined with other measures already approved, such as the labor reform and Constitutional Amendment 95/2016, which froze public spending for 20 years, signify "a return to the times of slavery."

In stating that PEC 6/2019 represents an attack on Brazilian workers, especially those in education, Antônio advocated for the unity of labor unions against the proposal.

Historians say that the previous government went down in history as the one that destroyed workers' social rights; the incoming government is paving the way for that process.

The Secretary-General of the National Union of Higher-Level Technicians of Federal Institutions of Higher Education, Ângela Lobo Costa, also positioned herself against the pension reform and said that the category has been fighting proposals that, according to her, represent social losses. Ângela criticized measures taken by the government of former President Michel Temer, such as Constitutional Amendment 95/2016 and the labor reform.

— The Temer government began strangling public universities with attacks on the Science Without Borders program, student assistance and retention programs, research grants, and public hiring processes, and now, the pension reform is also appearing as a universal panacea for the public debt.

Future of the nation
The director of legal affairs for the Federation of Unions of Professors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education and Basic Technical and Technological Education (Proifes), Eduardo Rolim de Oliveira, said that the proposal to deconstitutionalize Social Security, allowing changes to retirement rules through complementary law, and the implementation of an individual capitalization system are the two most important items of PEC 6/2019 to be discussed. According to him, the approval of these two measures in particular would be like "tearing up the 1988 Federal Constitution".

— Removing from the Constitution any and all changes that may occur from now on is extremely serious. We are talking about the idea of ​​removing the defense of people's social rights, as provided for in the Magna Carta. It is the future of the nation that is at stake.

Eduardo Rolim disagreed with the government's justification that there is a deficit in Social Security. According to the director of Proifes, the measure is an attempt to complement an economic package initiated with Constitutional Amendment 95/2016, which established a limit on public investments.

This government, like the previous one, knew very well that if they don't reduce social spending by at least 30% by the end of the year, we will have social chaos in this country. This entire discussion is economic and has nothing to do with social issues, human rights, or pensions, but rather with the allocation of public money and Brazilians' savings to the hands of the "sharks" of the financial market.

The president of the Confederation of Workers in the Municipal Public Service (Confetam), Vilani Oliveira, said that the poorest and the oldest will be the most harmed by the changes and pointed out that many will not even be alive to benefit from retirement. Stating that the reform means the dismantling of social security, Vilani compared PEC 6/2019 to a "reform of the pension system".

— When we reform, we have the prospect of improvement, and that is not the case with this proposal. What we are seeing is a tragedy foretold, a crime foretold by a government that intends to take away historical rights, abandoning to their own fate the most vulnerable segments, those who most need social protection.

Women
Heleno Manoel Gomes Araujo Filho, president of the National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE), highlighted that 80% of the category is made up of women and said that disregarding the precarious working conditions of many teachers around the country would be "a crime committed by the government".

This proposed reform has a destructive content, which means the dismantling of social security, and therefore it has no place in being approved by the National Congress. It is impossible to think that this House will accept a measure of this kind.

The general coordinator of the National Confederation of Workers in Educational Establishments (Contee), Gilson Luiz Reis, pointed out that 66% of retirees in Brazil receive a minimum wage and considered that precisely this poorest segment of the country will be the most affected by the reform.

"That's what they're going to attack, that's what they're destroying: the miserable person who earns minimum wage at the bottom, after working 30, 40 years. The estimate is that 33 million people won't even reach retirement age if this proposal is approved."

Upcoming hearings
The president of the Human Rights and Social Affairs Committee (CDH), Senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS), is the author of the request for the series of debates on Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 6/2019. He recalled that the pension reform in its entirety and specific topics, such as the rural pension system, the situation of those who are already retired and receiving pensions, and the case of education workers, which took place this Tuesday, have already been discussed. Paim added that the next public hearings will address the impacts of the pension reform on the economy, the public service, the business sector, public safety, health, as well as special retirement benefits in hazardous areas.

— It's a debate based on ideas, on causes. And our concern is with the causes of the Brazilian people.