MG State teachers demand more budget, salary and career in public hearing

Lack of budget, low salaries and lack of policies for state universities in Minas Gerais were some of the topics discussed, this Tuesday (26), in a public hearing of the Education, Science and Technology Commission of the Legislative Assembly of MG (ALMG) . Teachers from the universities of the State of Minas Gerais (Uemg) and the State of Montes Claros (Unimontes) demanded better working conditions and compliance with the budget foreseen for the institutions in the State Constitution. Uemg professors approved a 24-hour strike on Tuesday, in defense of their careers and for more budget at the university.

According to Túlio Lopes, president of the Uemg Teachers’ Association (Aduemg – ANDES-SN Union Section), the university’s annual budget is R$404 million. In comparison with state universities in São Paulo, he indicated that the amount is less than 5% of that allocated to the University of São Paulo (USP), which has an annual budget of R$8.4 billion, and around 10% of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the São Paulo State University (Unesp), whose budgets are around R$4 billion.

In comparison with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), the budget represents a third of the amount transferred to UFMG, which is currently R$1.5 billion. The professor highlighted that this distortion is even more evident when looking at the expansion of Uemg in recent years. Currently, the institution has campuses in 18 municipalities in Minas Gerais.

The president of Aduemg SSind. stated that there is a lack of material and infrastructure conditions for teaching. According to Túlio Lopes, in the last 10 years, the resources allocated to the two institutions – Uemg and Unimontes – varied between 0.3% and 0.4% of the general budget of the state of Minas Gerais. He pointed out that the situation has worsened since 2022. One of the proposals is to guarantee that 2% of the state budget is allocated to Uemg and Unimontes.

Ildenilson Barbosa, president of the Unimontes Teachers’ Association (Adunimontes SSind.), stated that the institution’s already meager budget suffered a 30% drop in 2024. In a report on attempts to negotiate with the government in recent years, Barbosa recalled that, After two long strikes – in 2016 and 2018 – an agreement was reached, approved by the Court of Justice. However, the agreed points would not be fulfilled by the Executive Branch.

An example is that of almost 50 teachers who had their Exclusive Dedication (DE) recognized and published in the Official Gazette, but to date they have not received the amounts related to this recognition. Not authorizing the recognition of this journey, as well as preventing the increase in working hours from 20 to 40 hours per week were some of the state government’s strategies, highlighted by the audience participants, which impact the salaries of teachers and university autonomy.

In relation to salary devaluation, over the last ten years, there has been an accumulation of 76% of salary losses in the categories of teachers and professors at both institutions, who pay the second worst salary among all public universities in Brazil. According to the president of Aduemg SSind., there are open notices for teaching positions without demand, due to low salaries. The problem is more serious in smaller municipalities and results in a lack of teachers in some courses and campuses. Meanwhile, Governor Zema increased his salary, that of his deputy and secretaries of State by 298%, in 2023, and did not grant any adjustment to the category.

In turn, Ildenilson Barbosa, from Adunimontes SSind., cited cases in which teachers with serious illnesses avoid taking leave for treatments, because salary cuts reach 40%. This is because the basic salary for the category is very low, meaning that it is not possible to give up compensation funds, such as food allowances and bonuses.

Government response
Representing the Executive Branch at the hearing were chief advisors Helga de Almeida, from Union Relations at the State Department of Planning and Management, and Leandra Martins, from Higher Education at the Department of Education. The first lamented the situations reported and recognized the problems, but said that the requests cannot be met given the limitations of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF). The second committed to expanding the dialogue within the Education portfolio.

According to Túlio Lopes, the audience was an important political space for the category to present the main agendas of the 2024 Educational Salary Campaign. He also highlighted as fundamental the presence of ANDES-SN directors, Jennifer Webb, 1st treasurer, and Clarissa Rodrigues, 2nd vice-president of the Eastern Regional, during the session.

“The ultra-liberal and authoritarian government of Romeu Zema, in addition to not complying with the Strike Agreement, cut funding from state universities in Minas Gerais, did not grant any adjustment in 2023, has not yet presented any proposal in 2024 and is still trying to implement a Tax Recovery Regime ( RRF) which provides for 9 years without readjustments and public competitions”, stated Lopes.

After the hearing, Uemg teachers held an assembly and decided to continue the mobilizations and build a new category strike. “We continue to fight for no less rights, against the Zema government’s policies and in defense of new achievements”, he reinforced.

Jennifer Webb also highlighted the importance of holding the hearing, which, in addition to union representation, was attended by representatives of the government and the Rectory of the two universities, as well as professors and students from these institutions, who filled the room. “The Salary Campaign is starting in Minas Gerais. We defend and hope that the state government, in fact, in addition to the speech, can sit down with teachers and establish a negotiation table aimed at meeting both salary and career demands regarding the infrastructure and budget of these universities”, he said.

With information from ALMG