Brazil’s truckers consider nationwide strikes and blockades starting this Sunday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Groups and associations representing truck drivers are studying the possibility of a nationwide strike starting Sunday (25), which could extend to Monday (26). There is dissatisfaction among these workers with unfulfilled promises of the Jair Bolsonaro government and with the recent high price of diesel fuel.

Among the dissatisfactions are the end of the exemption of PIS/COFINS on diesel, high prices of inputs for freight transport, and the lack of enforcement of the minimum freight charges payable to teamsters. Some groups have already decided to support the suspension of activities, but meetings will be held this week to define the position.

One of the entities that has decided to support the strike is the National Council for Road Transport of Goods (CNTRC). Plinio Dias, president of the entity, said that mobilization will begin on the 25th and that adhesion may grow on Monday and the following days.

The organization claims to have already submitted 387 letters to the government since the beginning of the year with the truckers’ demands, such as the end of Petrobras’ import parity price policy (PPI) for fuel, stronger monitoring on the roads to comply with the minimum freight and a special pension for drivers.

According to the representative, the agenda is the same as the paralysis of early 2021. “Until now, the government and ministries have not come forward to talk to us.”

Resentment against the government has grown among truckers over some unfulfilled promises. In May, the government, alarmed by the movements and constant threats of strikes, announced a package of measures for the so-called “asphalt giants.”

The measures include the creation of the electronic transport document (Dt-e), one of the most important measures taken by the government to reassure the profession.

The project was approved last Thursday, July 15, by the Chamber of Deputies through Provisional Measure 1051/21 and will be considered in the Senate. The measure standardizes the documents required to transport freight and can be used by a driver’s cell phone. It was also seen by truckers as an attempt to calm tempers.

The Brazilian Association of Drivers (Abrava) will decide whether to join the strike at a meeting with its members on Thursday (22).

According to Stringasci, the fuel issue is key. Truckers want reform in pricing policy. It is criticized that truckers have not been called to the table so far to hear the company’s response to their demands.

According to the leaders, there is now a possibility of even greater adhesion than during the strike in February, due to the diesel fuel price readjustments made since then.

According to the ANTB representative, some drivers, and facilities that were initially opposed because they thought it was a movement against the government now believe the strike is “a matter of necessity” to claim their “rights”. “They understood the demands, especially for fuel,” he said.

With few rivers developed as transport routes in Brazil and virtually no rail infrastructure, trucker strikes in Brazil have a major impact on the functioning of the country. The 2019 strike paralyzed the entire country and brought the economy to a virtual standstill.