Minas Security employees protest for readjustment and close MG-010

Governor Romeu Zema (Novo) was the target of a protest carried out by Public Security employees this Tuesday afternoon (4/30). The category charges the head of the Minas Gerais Executive for salary adjustments that, according to representative entities, have not occurred for more than seven years and have already caused an inflationary devaluation of 41.6%.

Thousands of employees gathered in front of Palácio Tiradentes, headquarters of the government of Minas Gerais in the Administrative City, in Belo Horizonte, and even closed the exit to MG-010. The category still protests against the increase in social security contribution rates that fall under the Minas Gerais State Servants’ Pension Institute (Ipsemg) and the Military Servants’ Pension Institute (IPSM).

“It is the police who are asking for salaries. It is a correct, honest police force that works for the citizen. I think that Governor Romeu Zema could only be wanting criminal factions to invade the state of Minas Gerais. But we, police officers, will not allow this”, said the president of the Civil Police Union (Sindpol), Wermerson Oliveira. He also pointed to an alleged “scrapping” of the security forces and recalled that Zema had an adjustment of almost 300% approved by the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais (ALMG) in his own salary and that of his secretariat.

In his speech, Oliveira also raised the possibility of a “turtle operation”, known as strict legality, when Security agents stage a strike and only fulfill the basic services provided for by law. “In our salary he wants to offer 3.62%, less than the inflation rate of 2023. We cannot accept that. Yes, we need to follow strict legality. It is within this that we will be able to reach the government. We will work in strict legality, we will not do what the State does not allow”, he added.

3.62%

With a complicated fiscal situation, the Zema government announced that it will forward a bill to ALMG that provides for a salary adjustment of 3.62% for all public service careers. The proposal will be retroactive to January 2024.

According to Palácio Tiradentes, 610,000 employees will benefit and the impact on state coffers will be R$1.7 billion. “We follow our commitment to value employees, within the effort we are making to balance the State’s accounts. By treating public money responsibly, we are able to guarantee recovery without compromising fiscal stability”, said Zema.

The Union of Taxation, Inspection and Collection Servers of Minas Gerais (Sinfazsico-MG), argue that the adjustment covers only 1/3 of the inflation accumulated in 2022 and 2023. “According to the data, the index that calculates inflation has ended 2022 at 5.79% and 2023 at 4.62%, resulting in an accumulated 10.67% in the mentioned period”, they write.

O State of Minas approached the state government for a position, but did not receive a response until the publication of this report.