Negotiations on the regional wage floor in Rio Grande do Sul were concluded on Tuesday (23) without the presence of business entities. This was the eighth and last meeting held at the Secretariat of Labor and Professional Development, with only the participation of the leaders of the unions and the secretary of the department, Gilmar Sossella, who regretted the absence of representatives from the business sector.
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At the beginning of the meeting, Secretary Sossella recognized the workers’ representatives’ willingness to negotiate and informed that the contacts he made with employers did not result in progress in relation to the proposed adjustment rate of just 2.21%. The directors of the centers delivered the document containing the final considerations of the negotiation process, recognizing as an important advance Decree 57,502 of March 2024, which established the Policy Committee for Valuing the Salary Floor of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Secretary of Administration and Finance of CUT-RS, Antônio Güntzel, who followed the negotiations, reported that in the eight meetings the union centrals asked for an increase at the same rate as the federal government’s adjustment, of 8.45%. “It was our request. The businesspeople agreed on 2.21%. They were represented by Fecomercio, Fiergs and Farsul. Federasul offered us 3.5%”, he says.
According to him, the possibility of an agreement is still very far away, at the last meeting the businesspeople did not even show their faces. “We regret it, we left a proposal on the secretary’s table saying that Farsul’s average adjustments would suit us, being around 6.5% to 7%”, concluded Güntzel.
Erico Correa, from the Trade Union and Popular Forum, in turn stated that the centrals’ position is correct. “There was no agreement with the employer, therefore, the state government must assume its responsibility in relation to this matter. The workers do not accept lowering the proposal and demand 8.42%, without giving up on re-discussing the historic losses”, he said .
The president of CTB/RS, Guiomar Vidor said that “it is unacceptable that the business sector presents a rate of just 2.21%, compared to our initial claim of 14.82%, corresponding to the fair and necessary recomposition of the historical value of the minimum regional which, when it was implemented, corresponded to the value of 1.28 national minimum wages”.
He also highlighted that only the entities representing the workers expressed their willingness to negotiate, “significantly declining the initial request of 14.82%, offering a counter-proposal for an adjustment of 8.45%, this being the same percentage of adjustment granted by the federal government to the salary national minimum”.
According to Vidor, the suppression of retroactive payments for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 adjustments combined represents the evasion of amounts corresponding to at least three months’ wages from the pockets of those who earn the least and need it most.
At the end of the meeting, Secretary Sossella was sensitive to the arguments presented and revealed that he still believes and will seek an understanding with the business sector in the coming days. However, he said that everything indicates that it will be up to Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) and his economic team to arbitrate the adjustment index.
Thus, the union centrals asked for speed so that the readjustment project can be forwarded urgently to the Legislative Assembly. The hope is that the governor will take into account the data and arguments presented and present a higher index than that granted by the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná.
Among the business entities, Fiergs was contacted by Brasil de Fato RS, but did not want to give a statement.
RS regional floor was created by Olívio Dutra
The regional minimum wage was created and came into force in Rio Grande do Sul on July 15, 2001 by then governor Olivio Dutra (PT). The initiative increased the lowest wages paid to state workers, influenced collective negotiations and even became a salary reference.
The floor benefited 1.2 million workers who earn up to two minimum wages, through an increase in their real income and did not cause unemployment. On the contrary. During the first months of implementation of the new salary, which varied from R$ 230.00 to R$ 250.00, 25 thousand new jobs were created in RS, in addition to the unemployment rate being lower in this period, compared to the year 2000. The data comes from the study of the impact of the Salary Floor on wages and employment in RS, prepared by the Labor Observatory, of the Secretariat of Labor, Citizenship and Social Assistance, in partnership with the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese).
Editing: Katia Marko
