Protest by public employees blocks traffic.

Alagoas247 - As announced last week, municipal public servants have scheduled another strike for this Monday (9), and services offered by the City of Maceió have been compromised. The expectation of the union representing the public servants of the capital is that only the teachers of the municipal network will be left out. 

Traffic in the downtown area, where hundreds gathered for a public demonstration, came to a standstill. After the march, a sound truck hired by the union blocked traffic in front of the Administration Secretariat.

The Union of Public Servants of the Municipality of Maceió (Sindspref) held a public demonstration this morning in Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca Square. Afterwards, the strikers marched through the streets of downtown Maceió towards the Municipal Secretariat of Finance and Administration, located near Palmares Square.

Municipal employees believe that the City Hall of Maceió intends to cut all bonuses earned by civil servants. An audit conducted by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), contracted by the Municipality, detected irregularities in the salaries of approximately 3 active and retired employees of Maceió. The analysis indicated that 15% of employees receive irregular payments. The union denies this.

In addition to this issue, Sindspref is demanding compliance with a salary agreement signed in 2014 in court. According to Sidney Lopes, president of the union, the city hall and the employees reached an understanding, which was sealed in the Court of Justice of Alagoas (TJ-AL), and the remaining amount has not been paid to date.

“We are waiting for the retroactive payment of the merit-based progression, which was promised in court. Furthermore, the 2015 base date period has arrived, and this point has been included in our list of demands,” the union representative added.

According to him, teachers are excluded from the planned strike, as they were included in a specific negotiation with the Municipality last year. Other administrative positions across numerous departments have been called upon to halt activities starting this Monday. "In the health sector, practically all employees are expected to stop work, including doctors," Lopes believes. The City of Maceió employs, on average, 20 people. 

Administration Version

The interim Secretary of Administration of Maceió, Fellipe Mamede, affirms that the right to strike for public employees is constitutionally protected, but believes there is some haste on the part of the civil servants. According to him, the audit report prepared by FGV is still under analysis by the City Hall's legal team, and only after receiving guidance from these lawyers will any action be taken.

“The report has been received, shared, and is still being analyzed. We want to make it clear that the City Hall of Maceió does not intend to harm the employees, but to correct what is being done incorrectly. If an audit found errors, it is a natural consequence that some measure will be taken to correct them. However, we want to count on the collaboration of all employees in this process,” said the secretary.

Regarding the retroactive progression, Mamede clarified that the court agreement that provided for the installment payment was canceled by the court itself. However, according to him, a new agreement was signed with the employees, which is being rigorously followed. "I hope that these communication issues will be clarified in a meeting scheduled with representatives of the employees later this Monday," the secretary concluded.

With gazetaweb.com