12/08/2024 – 21:53
After a little over a month of strike, employees of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment (Ibama) reached an agreement with the Ministry of Management and Innovation (MGI) this Monday, the 12th. Until Thursday, the 15th, the category will hold meetings to determine the end of the strike. The accepted proposal foresees an average increase of 23% for mid-level employees and 21% for higher-level employees by 2026.
In a statement, the National Association of Environmental Specialist Career and Special Career Plan Employees of the Ministry of the Environment and Ibama (Ascema) stated that “the agreement is very far from the restructuring desired by the category.” In the same document, the association said that the government acted intransigently when conducting the negotiation and that the signature of the proposal was made “reluctantly” by the employees.
The civil servants’ view is that the government’s proposal does not meet their main demand for career restructuring, but merely grants a salary adjustment. One of the main demands of the civil servants during the mobilization was to bring the category into line with the salary and progression levels of the National Water Agency (ANA), which was left aside in the agreement.
Amid the impasse in negotiations with Environmental workers, the Secretary of Labor Relations at the Ministry of Management and Innovation, José Lopez Feijóo, told the State that the proposal made by the government to the category was one of the most “envied” by other careers. At the time, he reiterated that the government had reached the budget limit for negotiating.
Negotiations between Ascema and the government had been going on for about a year. The movement began to get tense in January, when employees decided to suspend all field activities carried out by the agency, culminating in the start of the strike on July 1.
A few days after the strike began, the courts granted an injunction requiring 100% of employees in some areas, such as environmental licensing, to return to work. The measure responded to a request made by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) which argued that the strike was abusive.
The mobilization had practical impacts on the control of illicit activities. A survey by the association showed that, from January to April 2023, 2,161 fines were issued, according to the entity. In the same period this year, there were 389 – a drop of 82%, according to the group.
The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, herself admitted the impact of the civil servants’ strike on deforestation rates in the Amazon in July. Data from the Deter system, from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), showed a 33.2% increase in alerts in the biome compared to the same month in 2023.
“We also have the issue of an election period that usually has a stimulus from some sectors of the political dynamic, to encourage occupations and deforestation. Another aspect has to do with the dry season. And of course, also the movement of civil servants in relation to the strikes they carried out,” said the minister last week.
Combating deforestation is one of the federal government’s main platforms. At the last UN Conference of the Parties (COP-28) in Dubai last year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated the decline in deforestation in the Amazon and recommitted to the goal of eliminating deforestation by 2030. In addition, Brazil values its image with regard to the environment, since next year it will host COP-30 in Belém.
In the statement after signing the agreement, the civil servants recalled the event that Brazil will host and stated that the mobilization will continue.
“The strike must end, but the mobilization will continue, we have COP-30 in 2025 and a lot of fighting ahead, with a calendar of actions to be drawn up in the coming days,” they said.
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