07/02/2024 – 19:03
Bus drivers in São Paulo have decided to go on strike and halt their activities starting at midnight on Wednesday, July 3, in the city. The movement is led by SindMotoristas, an organization that represents the category, which includes drivers, ticket collectors and other employees in the maintenance and inspection sector.
The Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region (TRT-2) granted an injunction so that there is 100% of the bus staff during peak hours and 50% during other periods.
On Tuesday the 2nd, two meetings were held between the parties – workers and employers. In the last one, SPUrbanuss, the union that represents the companies, presented a new salary adjustment proposal (of 3.60%), but there was no agreement.
SindMotoristas, which has been campaigning for wages for over a month, held a meeting this Tuesday and decided to maintain the strike.
The first meeting held this Tuesday, scheduled for 10 am, was a technical meeting mediated by the Court of Auditors of the Municipality of São Paulo (TCMSP), which aimed to seek information based on an analysis of the Passenger Public Transport Concession contracts in light of the workers’ demands.
The meeting, which lasted until 11:30 am, was requested by SPTrans, and also brought together representatives from the City Council, the Regional Labor Court and the Public Labor Ministry.
Shortly afterwards, a conciliation hearing was called by the Labor Court, at the request of the workers. The meeting brought together representatives of SindMotoristas and SPUrbanuss.
According to the minutes of the hearing, which ended at 12:22 p.m., the representative of SPUrbanuss presented a “proposal for a salary adjustment of 3.60%, an index above the INPC for the period (3.23%), which could be further increased depending on the index defined by FIPE in the salary meter, which could reach 4%, according to initial forecasts”.
During the hearing, SindMotoristas stated that it agreed with the salary proposal, but stated that other issues needed to be resolved in order to reach a full agreement. The meeting ended without an agreement. In addition to the salary adjustment, the union’s requests are as follows:
– 6h30 working day and 30 minutes of paid break;
– monthly meal ticket worth R$38 per day;
– Participation in profits and results;
– basic basket without the word “similar”;
– life insurance of 10 minimum wages for the driver and 5% of the current value for other workers.
According to the Regional Labor Court of the 2nd Region, since there was no agreement between the parties, an injunction was granted determining that, in the event of a strike, 100% of the bus staff must operate during peak hours (from 6 am to 9 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm) and 50% during other periods. If the agreement is not complied with, the union will have to pay a fine of R$100,000.
The court also determined that SindMotoristas should not impede or create obstacles to access by workers and passengers, departures of buses from the garages of urban public passenger transport companies, as well as prevent the free movement of buses on public roads and in passenger terminals.
The Union of Urban Passenger Transport Companies of São Paulo, an entity that represents some of the companies responsible for the service in the capital, said in a statement that it “is in disbelief at the decision of the Drivers’ Union” to go on strike next Wednesday.
“The Drivers’ Union is confronting the TRT and what may be decided at the hearing. It is a lack of respect for justice or an unreasonable way of putting pressure on the TRT,” said SPUrbanuss, before the meeting on Tuesday.
In a statement, the City of São Paulo says that the municipal administration and SPTrans have requested a preliminary injunction in the Labor Court so that the bus fleet can operate at 100% during peak hours and 80% at other times and are awaiting a response from the Court.
“SPTrans reinforces the need to serve the 7 million bus passengers so that they are not harmed and has taken the necessary legal measures in favor of the population,” says the statement.
“Regarding the workers’ motivations, the City Hall clarifies that it is only following the negotiation between the parties and hopes that the representatives of the category and the businesspeople find a common point in the salary campaign without harming passengers”, the note concluded.
Negotiations have been dragging on for months
Last month, road workers voted and approved a strike for the beginning of June, but backed down after reaching an agreement with SPUrbanuss, in a conciliation hearing at the Labor Court.
At that time, SindMotoristas agreed to withdraw from the protest under certain conditions. One of them was the creation of a technical body to oversee the contracts signed between the dealerships and the City of São Paulo.
After the agreement, the workers decided to suspend the strike until June 30, the date considered the deadline for Sindmotoristas and SpUrbanuss to reach a consensus on the employees’ demands.
Since nothing was presented by the employers, SindMotoristas mobilized the category, which decided to vote again for the strike last Friday.
The workers’ main demand is a reduction in the working day to 6.5 hours with an additional 30 minutes of paid time. “This is the main demand of the category,” said the SindMotoristas advisory team.
The list of demands also includes a 3.69% salary adjustment based on the IPCA-IBGE plus a 5% real increase; a quality basic food basket; correction of the Profit Sharing Program (PPR) from R$1,200 to R$2,000; and improvements to meal vouchers, life insurance, medical and dental plans, as well as a review of funeral assistance amounts.
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