Civil servants in Porto Alegre stage strike.

Luís Eduardo Gomes, On the 21 Hundreds of municipal employees gathered this Wednesday around the Porto Alegre City Hall to protest against the lack of salary adjustments, potential wage losses, and the deteriorating working conditions of the category.

Armed with whistles, signs, sound trucks, and a lively band shouting slogans against the mayor, José Fortunati, and the deputy mayor, Sebastião Melo, the municipal workers began to gather at the City Hall around 7 a.m. The strikers placed banners around the entrances of the municipal administration to prevent other employees from accessing the building, located on Avenida Siqueira Campos.

Silvana Conti, general director of Simpa (Union of Municipal Employees of Porto Alegre), stated that the objective of the strike was to convince the mayor and vice-mayor to meet with the workers for negotiations, something the City Hall was allegedly avoiding.

"When we met with Secretary Elói Guimarães (Administration), they put absolutely nothing on the table. That's why we, from the union, were surprised when Mayor Fortunati summarized the issue in the media yesterday as just a salary dispute," stated the union representative.

According to Conti, the category is requesting an increase of approximately 20%, corresponding to inflation and wage losses. However, she emphasizes that the salary adjustment is not the category's main demand. “It's very easy for Fortunati to say that municipal workers want 20%, that they want to compare themselves to the Treasury. That's not it; we want a dignified and fair salary and to sit down and discuss all the other issues on our agenda.”

She explains that the main demands also include granting maximum hazard pay to healthcare workers, better pay for DMLU (Municipal Department of Urban Cleaning) employees – who are prevented from striking because they are considered essential, but do not receive adequate compensation – lack of human resources in the education sector, and lack of security in schools.

The goal is to extend the work stoppage throughout Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning around the City Hall. Municipal workers are scheduled to hold a general assembly starting at 14 PM on Thursday at the Harmonia Park Events Center. At this meeting, they will decide whether to go on strike.

Cascade effect

One of the main demands of the municipal workers is the resolution of the changes in the Civil Servant Compensation System, the so-called Cascade Effect. According to the group, civil servants risk losing up to 38% of their remuneration due to a resolution by the Public Prosecutor's Office that deemed the incorporation of bonuses into the base salary for the calculation of adjustments illegal.

A bill is being processed in the City Council that proposes transforming these bonuses into a salary supplement. However, municipal employees are against this bill, arguing that they would lose the converted salary supplement upon retirement. "We are fighting to avoid losing rights. That's why our campaign is 'not a penny less and not a right less'," says Conti.

Lack of security in schools

Represented in large numbers at the demonstration and carrying banners, the municipal teachers complained about the lack of security in schools, which leads to many teachers being assaulted. "There aren't enough Municipal Guard officers to cover all the schools, while many people who passed the civil service exams aren't being called up," said Conti.

Ezequiel Viapiana, 25, a teacher at the Lidovino Fanton Municipal School, located in Restinga Velha, says that the profession suffers from fear of violence. “We live under constant threat, mainly from drug traffickers, because there are no municipal guards at our school,” he says. “There used to be one or two guards (at the Lidovino Fanton school), but now the guards only patrol between schools in Restinga. We always call them when there’s trouble, but first it’s the teachers who have to keep things under control.”

He also complains about the precarious working conditions of municipal teachers. Viapiana, a music teacher, claims he doesn't have a suitable room to do his work. "My room doesn't have blackboards and the windows are broken. I don't have musical instruments," he states.

Against outsourcing

Another constant theme among the protesters was criticism of outsourcing. "A very serious thing that is happening in Porto Alegre is outsourcing," stated Conti. "The DMLU has already been almost entirely outsourced. Currently, the DMAE is undergoing a lot of outsourcing. The water meter reading sector is being outsourced," he added.

Gathered in a group, social worker Cristina La Porta and mental health therapists Maria Ângela and Angela Maria Pagot complained that a large portion of healthcare professionals, such as those participating in the Family Health Program, are outsourced. They claim that Imesf (Municipal Institute of Family Health Strategy), which is responsible for the matter, operates illegally.

They also complain about workplace harassment against healthcare workers, a lack of professionals in the field, a lack of transportation for workers to get to work, and the separation between doctors and other municipal health workers. "This creates a weakening of the profession," said Pagot.

City Hall response

When contacted by reporters, the city hall stated that Fortunati would only comment on the strike through a statement on the city hall's website.

In the statement, Fortunatti affirms that the city hall has been going through a financial crisis, but that it would be willing to propose an inflation adjustment. However, he criticizes the employees for adopting a "radical" stance and for unilaterally deciding on the strike.

Here is the full text of Mayor José Fortunati's statement:

It is common knowledge that all Brazilian public entities, at all three levels of government, are facing a financial crisis. Even so, in the face of these difficulties, the Porto Alegre City Hall, in an effort to recognize the importance of the work of municipal employees and their fair compensation, is willing to propose compensation for inflationary losses during this period, while other levels of government, due to their well-known difficulties, are even considering a zero adjustment.

 It is therefore surprising the radical way in which the representation of the Porto Alegre Municipal Workers Union (Simpa) established a work stoppage and, what is more serious, in a unilateral manner, preventing employees who wish to remain on duty from accessing their workplaces, thus harming services to the public.

 It is worth highlighting that Porto Alegre's municipal employees are among the highest paid in the country. Therefore, we urge the leadership of Simpa to recognize the gravity of the situation and call for mature negotiations between the two parties.

Jose Fortunati

Mayor of Porto Alegre