Kátia Abreu's son proposes a reduction in the minimum wage.

Tocantins 247 - Federal deputy and Senate candidate Eduardo Gomes (SDD), from the coalition "The change we see," stated this Wednesday, the 17th, that if elected to the Senate, he will work to have the National Congress reject Bill No. 7.731, authored by federal deputy and candidate for reelection Irajá Abreu (PSD), son of Senator Kátia Abreu (PMDB), also a candidate for reelection from the coalition "Experience makes the change."

The bill proposed by Congressman Irajá Abreu, whose mother is one of President Dilma Rousseff's main allies, directly contradicts the minimum wage increase policy implemented by the Workers' Party (PT) over the past 12 years. Irajá proposes that the minimum wage be calculated based on the real GDP per capita growth rate of 2013, which reached 1,4%, plus the National Consumer Price Index (INPC), which measures inflation, estimated at 6,65% for 2014.

The bill is being processed by the Constitution and Justice Committee of the Chamber of Deputies under an expedited procedure. If approved, the minimum wage for 2015 would be reduced from R$ 788,06 to R$ 781. 

According to Eduardo Gomes, Representative Irajá's bill will harm workers. "This proposal by Representative Irajá, who doesn't care about workers and has the support of his mother, Senator Kátia Abreu, will take the equivalent of 11% of a minimum wage in one year – almost R$100 – from the pockets of Brazilian workers, who already earn so little. With the good relationships I have in Brasília, I will work and I will manage to prevent the approval of this proposal that directly impacts Brazilian workers and their families," stated the federal representative and Senate candidate.

Understand

The minimum wage for Brazilian workers will be adjusted based on Law No. 12.382, of February 25, 2011, until 2015. The legislation addresses, among other points, the long-term policy of increasing the minimum monthly wage. According to the rule, each year the increase in the minimum wage will correspond to the variation in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the previous year plus the inflation of the previous year as measured by the National Consumer Price Index (INPC).

In 2013, the total adjustment was 8,83%. Of this total, 2,73 percentage points were linked to GDP growth in 2011, and the remainder to the INPC variation in 2012. Based on this rate, the value was adjusted in January of that year, increasing from R$ 622 to R$ 678. The new value added R$ 56 to the income of those receiving a minimum wage and will be responsible, until the beginning of 2014, for an estimated impact on Social Security accounts of more than R$ 12,3 billion. In total, approximately 20 million people had their benefits adjusted.

Based on legislation, in 2014, the minimum wage will be adjusted by a percentage equivalent to the real GDP growth rate, as determined by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), for the year 2012. In 2015, the percentage will be equivalent to the real GDP growth rate in 2013. Inflation rates from the respective previous years will be added to these values. For future adjustments, the Executive Branch will submit a bill to the National Congress by December 31, 2015, outlining the policy for the period from 2016 to 2019.

Other side

In a statement released to the press, Congressman Irajá Abreu said that Bill 7731 has the sole objective of increasing the minimum wage annually, never and never reducing it, based on GDP growth. "I prefer to believe in the ignorance of Congressman and Senate candidate Eduardo Gomes rather than in bad faith aimed at confusing the people of Tocantins. It is irresponsible for a parliamentarian with his history to declare such serious falsehoods," stated Irajá.

Click here to read the full text of Bill 7731, by Irajá Abreu. 

(Article updated at 10:04 AM on September 18, 2014)