After six frustrating months of negotiations, the Brazilian government is halting talks with disgruntled workers of federal environmental agencies. The move could spark a general strike and jeopardize the country’s environmental efforts.
The Brazilian Report obtained a memo in which the Management Ministry informed Ascema, a union of public environmental workers, that it could not meet demands and that its wage increase proposal from February would be its last. “The Management Ministry believes that its proposals meet several demands made by the unions,” the memo states.
Employees of Brazil’s Ibama environmental protection agency, the Environment Ministry, and the Chico Mendes Biodiversity Institute (ICMBio) began holding walkouts and go-slow operations in January, suspending all field operations.
Unions ask for a pay increase of 10.34 percent per year, in three installments, between 2024 and 2026. With the accumulation of interest during this period, the full increase would be around 34.32 percent.
The government’s February counterproposal included a 9 percent wage hike in two installments: the first in May 2025 and the second in May 2026. The Management Ministry also claims to have offered almost double in meal bonuses, a 51 percent increase in health aid, and an increase in daycare allowances for parents.
The employees, however, argue...
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