Rio government pays 70% of May's payroll; union criticizes installment plan.
The government of the state of Rio, led by Francisco Dornelles, announced that, due to the worsening financial crisis, it will have to pay the salaries of active, retired, and pensioned civil servants in installments for the month of May; active employees of the Education Secretariat will receive their full salaries; according to Christiane Gerardo, secretary of the Union of Workers in Health, Labor and Social Security of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sindsprev-RJ), "they constantly complain about the lack of money. However, there is no shortage of funds for lavish renovations at Guanabara Palace [the state government headquarters] and for tax exemptions granted to construction companies."
From Agência Brasil
The government of the state of Rio de Janeiro will pay 70% of the public servants' payroll this Tuesday (14). The government informed that, due to the worsening financial crisis, it will have to pay the salaries of active, inactive and retired employees for the month of May in installments. Active employees of the Education Secretariat will also receive their full salaries this Tuesday.
According to Christiane Gerardo, secretary of the Union of Health, Labor and Social Security Workers of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sindsprev-RJ), the crisis the government refers to is "selective and nonexistent."
“The crisis touted by acting governor Francisco Dornelles, just as it was during Luiz Fernando Pezão's time, is completely selective. We constantly hear them lamenting the lack of money. However, there is no shortage of funds for lavish renovations at Guanabara Palace [the state government headquarters] and for tax breaks granted to construction companies. He [Dornelles] wants to deceive us with measures like today's, thinking that this means something. He is very wrong,” stated Christiane.
The secretary described the staggered payment of salaries as shameful and humiliating. “It’s a disgrace. It’s a mockery of the civil servants to pay a salary, which is already extremely outdated, only in the middle of the month and in installments. And they don’t even mention when they will be able to pay the rest that they owe us. This is the result of the criminal management that the PMDB party in Rio de Janeiro is carrying out in the state.”
Unified strike
Christiane Gerardo assured that the civil servants' strike continues and stated that, given the current scenario, the path to be taken is a unified strike of all state employees. "That's what Dornelles is asking for when he takes measures like this, when he doesn't listen to us and gives us evasive answers in meetings with our directors. Make no mistake, the strike is only getting stronger and moving towards a general, unified shutdown of the entire system," she said.
The state government clarified that all active, inactive, and retired civil servants will receive R$ 1 plus 50% of the difference between their net salary and the R$ 1 installment. That is, a civil servant with a net salary of R$ 4 will receive R$ 1 + R$ 1,5, which is 50% of the difference (R$ 3) between their net salary and the R$ 1 installment. With this, the state will disburse R$ 1,1 billion, equivalent to 70% of the May payroll (R$ 1.568 billion).
Active education employees will be paid using resources from the Basic Education Maintenance and Development Fund (Fundeb), which can only be allocated to active employees. The government has informed that it is concentrating efforts to pay the remaining installment by the end of June. The date, according to the report, will be announced next week.