Lula debates with trade unions on the minimum wage in Brazil

Brasilia, Jan 18 (Prensa Latina) President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will discuss with leaders and representatives of trade union centers in Brazil the increase in the national minimum wage, with percentages above inflation.

The Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, will also participate in the meeting and, according to Henrique Lopes, leader of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT) in the state of Mato Grosso, the arrival of the progressive administration makes it possible for workers who spent four years without a raise in the minimum monthly payment, to be looked at with more respect.

He affirmed that the dialogue between the centrals and the federal government in the Planalto Palace seeks to negotiate the readjustment of the minimum wage, set at 1,302 reais (255 dollars). The CUT’s idea is to improve the value by at least 15 percent, up to 1,342 reais (263 dollars).

“Our goal is the fulfillment of the (electoral) campaign promise with the resumption of the policy of correcting the minimum wage above inflation,” Lopes remarked.

During the audience with Lula, the union leaders have the expectation of also constituting a national negotiating table, in itself a group focused on the discussion of issues related to the working class, among which are the immediate resolution of work regulations through applications and collective bargaining.

At least the first two issues were defended by Lula during the election campaign and are now beginning to be addressed by his new government. The panel will have 90 days to present its conclusions.

The so-called Minimum Wage Valuation Policy defended by the CUT and the other union centrals, and instituted in the first Lula government, was repealed by former president Jair Bolsonaro, the unionists denounce.