Traffic on MG-10 is released after protest by employees in the Administrative City in BH

Protesters cleared traffic in both directions of MG-10, in Belo Horizonte, at around 5:45 pm. The highway was completely closed for more than two hours due to a protest organized by public security officials. Drivers still feel the impact of the shutdown and face slow traffic.

You Protesters gathered in front of the Administrative Cityseat of the state government, to claim a salary recovery of 41.6%. The unions that represent civil, military and criminal police, as well as firefighters, claim that this value represents the seven years in which salaries were not adjusted for inflation by the state government. Representatives had stated that they would release traffic at around 6 pm.

The closure caused around 10 kilometers of congestion towards Belo Horizonte International Airport, in Confins. Traffic was blocked from Avenida Cristiano Machado, near Minas Shopping, in the União neighborhood, in BH.

In the direction of the capital of Minas Gerais, the traffic jam starts at MG-10, from the Jardim da Glória neighborhood, in Vespasiano. In total, it’s six kilometers of slowness. There are also impacts on MG-424, which has a congested flow since the height of Cidade do Galo.

Protesters demand salary recovery

The unions that represent the categories of security forces claim that this value represents the seven years in which salaries were not adjusted for inflation by the state government.

“We want Governor Romeu Zema to pay us to compensate for inflationary losses, which already reach 41.6%. We already have the accumulated amount from the last seven years, without the government paying for the recovery. Now, he announces that he will forward a project, on Thursday, to the Legislative Assembly with a 3.62% loss recovery. This doesn’t even add up to last year’s inflation, which was 4.62%. The category will not accept this. We risk our lives to take care of the population. So, we will not accept this and, if necessary, we will toughen our actions”, said Wemerson Oliveira, president of the Union of Civil Police Servants of the State of Minas Gerais (Sindpol).

Wemerson states that a project to restore the category’s salaries was prepared in 2019, but was vetoed.

“Zema sent a secretary to sit down with us in 2019 and create a project to recompose the losses in three installments: one of 13% and two of 12%. He sent the project to the assembly and then vetoed the project itself. Of the two installments, only one was paid. So this has been accumulating over the last few years. If the government had paid the other two installments, we would only have last year’s compensation to be paid now”, explained the president of Sindpol.

What the Government of Minas says

In a statement, the Government of Minas stated that it “recognizes the importance of all civil servants, including the valuable work carried out by the Security Forces”. The current management says it is open to dialogue and has proposed a general adjustment of 3.62%.

According to the executive, the proposal provides for salary adjustments retroactive to January 2024. The Government emphasizes that expenses are still above that stipulated by the Fiscal Responsibility Law, and that general adjustments are only possible if applied to all categories.

Check out the full note:

“The Government of Minas recognizes the importance of all employees, including the valuable work carried out by Security Forces professionals. The current management keeps dialogue channels open with representatives of the categories and seeks to understand and meet their demands, within what the law allows and the fiscal and structural possibilities of the State.

Even in the face of the State’s delicate fiscal situation, the Government of Minas made every effort to ensure a general review of civil servants’ remuneration. Therefore, it will forward to the Legislative Assembly a Bill (PL) providing for a general adjustment of 3.62% in the salaries of all public servants in Minas Gerais. The proposal provides for salary recovery retroactive to January 2024.

It should be noted that the State still has personnel expenses above the limits of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), having recorded in the last four months of 2023 a commitment of 51.4% of Net Current Revenue (RCL), to a limit fixed maximum of 49%. According to the rules of the legislation, in this case, it is only possible to grant a general review of remuneration with the application of the same percentage and the same effective date for all categories”.