Restaurant association calls for compensation after tighter restrictions in São Paulo

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Restaurant Association (ANR) called for measures to save businesses and jobs, such as the re-enactment of laws that allow the suspension of labor contracts and working hours/wages, after the São Paulo government announced on Thursday, March 11th, the tightening of restrictions on circulation in the state.

However, this time the association refrained from repeating its criticism in the January statement against the São Paulo state government’s decision to backtrack on its plan to reopen activities. At the time, it said that companies in the sector, one of the hardest hit by social isolation, would be unable to endure such restrictions.

“ANR understands that the whole country is experiencing a very delicate moment with the surge of Covid-19, whether in the number of cases, deaths and ICU occupancy – a situation that demands new measures by the state, in all levels, whether municipal, state or federal,” the association commented yesterday.

It added that the majority of food service companies – including restaurants, cafeterias, bakeries and snack bars – are collapsing, pointing to a new wave of layoffs and bankruptcies.

As a means of cushioning the shock of the forced shutdown, the association calls for the re-launching of the program that last year authorized the suspension of labor contracts and the reduction of working hours, with a temporary cut in salaries, as well as low-interest credit lines. The list of demands also includes a tax pardon and the reversal of the increase in the ICMS (tax on the circulation of goods and transportation and communication services) rates in São Paulo.