Brazilian Postal Workers’ Strike Could End This Week after Court Hearing

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Superior Labor Court (TST) has scheduled a conciliation hearing, where the Correios (Brazil’s Post Office) workers will try to reach an agreement with the company, for next Friday, September 11th, at 3 PM.

The workers could return to work at any time, as the union said it was waiting for the court hearing date. But it may also be the case that workers choose to wait for the Court’s decision, although this is less likely.

The request for the TST to analyze the case was submitted by the unions representing the workers and by the Labor Public Prosecutors’ Office, after the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided that the current collective bargaining agreement could not be automatically extended into 2021.

This triggered the August 17th strike, since the agreement should have remained in effect until 2021, according to the labor court ruling. Workers also complain about the company’s negligent approach in relation to mandatory precautions as a result of the pandemic. Lastly, they are against the privatization of the state-owned company.

Of 79 proposals by the unions to renew existing clauses of the collective bargaining agreement, the Correios accepted nine. According to the unions, 70 percent of the Correios’ workers in the country joined the strike, which has no set date to end. The Correios say that 83 percent of employees are working as normal and that the distribution system has not been affected.

“I have been with the company for over 40 years, I had never experienced this. And everything could be solved through dialogue,” says José Aparecido Gandara, president of the Interstate Federation of Workers and Correios Workers Unions (FINDECT).

According to him, this is the first time that the Correios administration has unilaterally reduced employee benefits, with no proposal for dialogue, which “forced a strike”.

The unions say that the Correios managed to profit during the pandemic because of the increase in Internet sales. This does not justify the reduction of employee benefits. Online sales had a 70 percent increase in the second quarter. The union also requested a five percent salary readjustment.

The outcome of this strike is in the hands of the TST which, should there be no agreement between the parties, will define the terms of the bargaining agreement.

The case is being analyzed by Judge Kátia Arruda, of the Specialized Section for Collective Bargaining. Last week, Arruda ordered the maintenance of 70 percent of the Correios operations and banned deductions from the strikers’ salaries, because she believes they are exercising their rights.

The longest strike made by postal workers to date occurred in 2014 and ran for 43 days. At the time, there was no agreement on changes to the workers’ health plan.

Privatization

The unions also complain that the wage and benefit reduction strategy is within the government’s plan to sell the Correios with greater ease. However, according to them, the plan is detrimental to employees, who already have a low average salary.

“The average (monthly) salary for the whole staff is around R$3,000 (US$600). A postman receives less than R$2,000. The Correios has a very large operational base, 90 percent comes from the operation,” says Marcos César Alves, vice-president of the Association of Correios Professionals (ADCAP).

The government has pledged to submit the bill regulating the private provision of postal services “in the coming weeks”. Legislators are required to pass the rule in order for the company to be privatized.

Together with Eletrobras and PPSA, the Correios is among the privatization program’s priorities, according to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.

Source: Exame