Minimum salary

Recuperation politic changes the face of consumption
in the country

The recent protests for the workload reduction and the enlargement of social rights covered a reality built by the unit of the trade union centrals with positive impacts in the life of Brazilian population. For the first time, the country has a politic of recomposition of the affordability of the minimum salary.

João Carlos Gonçalves,
Juruna, General-Secretary
of Força Sindical

From 2002 to 2009, the minimum suffered a real raise of 53,67%, according to Dieese. “The politic of real growth of the salary occured with bigger velocity from the agreement with the centrals, in 2006, which predicts annual readjusts with basis at inflation and in the variation of the PIB until 2023, reminds the general-secretary of Força Sindical, João Carlos Gonçalves, Juruna.

Unit of the centrals
“It was important for the finish of the negotiations the unit among the centrals and the ability to fight of workers”, completes the general-secretary. “The process of recuperation of the minimum and the stability of the agreements of salary readjust between employees and bosses, from 2004, were only possible thanks to the continuity of the politic of valorization of the minimum at the country”, completes the tecnique-director of Dieese, Clemente Ganz Lúcio.

Juruna also highlighted that at the “Plano Real” the salary doubled its value. “But as there weren’t continuity, the income finished stagnated”, he says.

Correlation
When knowing about the Dieese study, the president of the Toys Trade Union of São Paulo, Maria Auxiliadora dos Santos, considered as correlated fenomenus the strenghten of the power of negotiation of the trade unions and the good evolution of the minimum salary.

Ganz Lúcio informed that, last year, 79,9% of the more than 200 salary agreements followed by Dieese all over Brazil were closed with readjusts above the average INPC measured by IBGE. “Since 2005 more than 70% of the agreements happen with real gain for the worker”, says the president of Força-PE, Marcos Sérgio da Silva.

Total of miserable falls
The propositive actions of the trade union movement are so significant that they have changed the face of consumption at the country, surely allied to the receptivity of government Lula with workers claims.

Result: the misery fell 43% since 2003, when goverment Luís Inácio Lula da Silva have started. Today, the country get together 30 million people living above the line of misery, but this number would be 50 million without the speed of investments at the last 15 years.

Middle class grows
This way, the Brazilian middle class have grown almost 50% at the last five years, according to research of Cetelem, financial of the french group BNP Paribas. The number of Brazilian who belong to the class C passed from 62,7 million in 2005 to 92,8 million last year.

The biggest part of this growth came from the families who previously belonged to classes D and E: these two groups “shrunken” from 92,9 million people five years ago to 66,8 million in 2009. The class A/B, therefore, passed from 26,4 million to 30,2 million people at the same period.

Formality increased
Formality has also increased. For the first time in 16 years half of the workers of the metropolitan regions of the country have signed card by the private companies.

“It’s clear that the government invested at the national development and at the poverty reduction” recognizes Osvaldo Mafra, president of the Central-SC, revealing that the income of work represented 67% of the inequality diminution; the project “Bolsa Família”, 17%; social security expenses, 15,7%.

For the president of Força-MG, Rogério Fernandes, the centrals have to highlight at the 1st of May, International Work Day, the achievements of the trade union movement and the fight for more rights, as the workload reduction from 44 hours to 40 hours weekly, without cut in the salaries.

Paulo Pereira da Silva, Paulinho, President of Força Sindical

Fighting to have access to decent work

Despite our achievements verified last years, as the politic of recuperation of the minimum salary and the collective agreements with salary readjusts above inflation, we still have to fight a lot for us to say that our labor have actual access to decent work.

For example, 25% of the Brazilian population still earns less than US$ 75 by month and the challenge of the trade union movement and of a government really comitted with the workers demands will be to create conditions to improve the national income.

For this, the trade union centrals have to focus at the combat to informality and at the support to the trade unions which have difficulty to mobilize their workers.

As it is a prioritary banner, the fight for the reduction of the week of work from 44 hours to 40 hours, without cut in the salaries, have to be intensified by the trade union centrals and by the trade unions, even because it’s also an instrument of income distribution and of job generation at the country.

Beyond these themes, workers can’t lose the focus of claims also fundamental for national and trade union life, specially the related to the sponsoring of the trade union entities, and to the stabilishment of a politic of recuperation of the affordability of the retired and pensionists and to the creation of a politic of the first job to our youth.

All these questions will be debated with workers who come to our 1st of May, at Campo de Bagatelle square, with a big concert with consagrated singers and in tens of cities all over Brazil.

Marfio Lima da Silva, President of Força Sindical-MA

In the act of Força Sindical in comemmoration to the 1st of May, International Day of Work, it will be debated the main fight banners of the Brazilian trade union movement, as the workload reduction to 40 hours, with the manteinance of salaries and the enlargement of work and social rights.

With the reduction of the worked hours, the society will be benefited because people will have more life quality, beyond more jobs. To the president of the Gas Station Attendants National Federation (Fenepospetro), Antònio Porcino Sobrinho, the social gains with the change in the time of work are important.

More health

The trade union leader understands that the charge of work is linked with the health of the worker. With the workload reduction, the incidence of ocupational diseases and work accidents will fall. “Being more relaxed and less stressed the people will less accident”, assess the president.

The proposal also contributes for a get better of income distribution at the country, if it comes with the manteinance of salaries. The worker will improve his familiar life, his leisure, will be able to study more and make courses of professional qualification.

More productivity

As it’s already proved by the History of capital and work relations, production and productivity increase every time that bosses give better work conditions to their employees, under the reduction of the worked hours and investments in education and qualification.

In the avaliation of the directory of Força Sindical, it’s up to the trade union centrals and to the trade unions the intensification of the pressure over the National Congress to be voted urgently the PEC 231/95, which is about the theme.

“We have to organize and mobilize workers at the places of work to make acts, protest manifestations and strikes to pressure the parliamentarians to approve our proposal”, points Porcino, highlighting that about 2 million new jobs will be opened in a first moment, in case the PEC is approved at the Congress.

Maranhão presents
filiation project

OIT wants investment in decent work
Brazil has passed through the crisis without high unemployment rates and a deep recession. From now on, however, it will have to focus to improve the work conditions to the Brazilians. The alert were given by OIT, during meeting of ministers of G-20, last week, in Washington. According to the entity, 25% of the Brazilian population still earns less than US$ 75 by month. For the entity, “the deficit of decent work still persists”. According to OIT, the challenge of the government after world crisis will be to create conditions for a income improve.

Fiscal incentives hold job
OIT admits that the unemployment crisis were reduced by the warm of the internal market and by fiscal incentives from the government. But the alert to the fact that the job generation is not enough to deal with the social situation at the country, pointed by the degrade works that still persists. The document still shows that Brazil is the country that have the smallest coverture of unemploymemt insurance among the economies of G-20, attending 7% of the population. At Argentina, it’s 8%; South Africa, 11%; Japan, 35% and in Spain, more than 60%.

Strenghten economy to avoid boom of demission
OIT recomends that the world government keep the packages of rescue to economy, to avoid an explosion at the unemployment rate. In 2009, these packages have saved 8 million jobs and they may avoid 6,7 million demission in 2010. The stimulus to avoid unemployment may have saved or created 6,2 million jobs at the countries of G-20 in 2009. Therefore, 21 million jobs were created or kept, equivalent to 1% of the total job at the G-20 group.