Gabas: Temer's reform abandons workers and prioritizes capital.

São Bernardo do Campo (SP) – The pension reform, presented by the government through Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 287, in addition to worsening the situation of active and retired workers, is not justified from an economic point of view – and it is not merely an economic discussion, observes former minister Carlos Gabas. "What is at stake is the model of the State: whether it will protect people or whether it will privilege capital," he stated, during a debate that ended last night (24) at the headquarters of the National Confederation of Metalworkers of CUT, in São Bernardo do Campo, in the ABC region of São Paulo. "If you don't have uncontrolled spending, why take away workers' rights?"

Besides Gabas, the panel included the president of the Union of Teachers of the Official Education System of the State of São Paulo (Apeoesp), Maria Izabel Azevedo Noronha, known as Bebel, and the Secretary of Social Policies of the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (Contag), José Wilson de Sousa Gonçalves. Their diagnosis was the same: the proposed reform is bad for these categories and for workers in general. Rural workers feel attacked for being linked to an alleged deficit in Social Security, while the education sector is predominantly made up of women, who are also harmed by the intended changes.

A minister in the Lula and Dilma governments, Gabas points to other problems. "In several regions of the country, life expectancy is 64 years. How are people going to retire at 65?" he asks, referring to the minimum age proposed by the Temer government. He also raises concerns about the so-called deficit. "We cannot discuss Social Security detached from Social Welfare, a large safety net built at the cost of workers' struggles," he states. Gabas considers women and rural workers to be the most affected, among several attacks on rights that, according to him, are contained in the proposed constitutional amendment.

The former minister considers the claim that rural workers do not contribute to Social Security a "trap." He points out that these workers contribute based on the sale of their produce. "That's correct, because it's seasonal," he comments. And he observes that 73% of the food consumed in the country comes from small farms, from family farming. "Is this the kind of people they want to leave unprotected?"

Payment for the scam

He emphasizes that it is indeed necessary to discuss the sustainability of Social Security, but from a different perspective. He considers the government's argument about a deficit a "false pretext," since expenses have remained stable. What happened recently, Gabas argues, was a drop in revenue as a consequence of the economic crisis – and this, he adds, can be solved with economic growth, employment, and income. "The reform is payment for the coup. Those who financed the coup are now collecting," he accuses.

With the rule changes proposed by the government, workers would only be able to receive a full pension after 49 years of contributions. Under the new calculation rule, the benefit amount is equivalent to 51% of the average of all contributions (not just the highest ones), plus 1% for each additional year of contribution. "On average, during their working life, workers are unemployed for seven years," says Gabas, citing data from Dieese. "Very few people will be entitled to a (full) pension."

One of the issues to be analyzed, says the former minister, concerns tax exemptions. In 2015 alone, they cost the Social Security system R$ 62 billion, compared to R$ 21 billion in 2011.

"It's one of the most absurd cruelties imaginable," stated Gonçalves, from Contag, commenting on the proposal to increase the minimum retirement age for rural workers – currently 60 years for men and 55 years for women. The organization's statement recalls that these ages were set "due to early entry into agricultural work, the harshness of the workday, and the lower life expectancy of small family farmers – the largest contingent of rural social security beneficiaries." According to him, rural retirement has helped keep people in the countryside.

Today (25), the entity is expected to finalize a document in which it will present its reasons for maintaining the rural retirement rules. Among the possible measures to improve Social Security accounts, Contag proposes a review of social security contribution waivers on exports and the increase, from 20% to 30%, of the Union Revenue Disconnection (DRU), in addition to effective debt collection from companies. 

"There is a redesign of the State," stated Bebel, affirming that public servants have always been "treated as villains" in discussions about public spending. She reminded that 84% of her category is made up of women. "I have no doubt: we will end up having 75-year-old teachers in the classroom. I see, in this reform, a total deregulation. There will be a shortage of teachers," she added, seeing in the proposal a "disinvitation" to remain in the system. "This reform was not debated in any forum," criticized the president of Apeoesp. "It's so bad that it will put everyone on the street." Workers in the education sector have already approved a national strike starting on March 15th.

In May 2015, then-President Dilma Rousseff issued a decree creating the National Forum for Labor, Employment, and Social Security, which aimed, among other things, to find alternative sources of revenue and update the rules. The forum did not complete its work. "The coup came before we could complete this task," wrote Gabas. During the debate, he offered a "mea culpa" for not establishing the National Social Security Council.

He also cited internal obstacles, in addition to clashes with the Treasury. Upon learning from the Federal Revenue Service that the credit recovery rate (amounts that the Revenue Service manages to recover from debtors) was only 0,7%, the then minister demanded a plan to increase that rate. "Then came the coup," he added.

The CNM-CUT event, which also discusses labor reform, ends this Wednesday with a debate that will bring together the PT leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Congressman Carlos Zarattini (SP), and Senator Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ). According to the organization, more than 100 leaders of unions and federations in the category will participate.