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Deputies approved the repeal of the floor for agronomists, architects, engineers and more professionals, which had been in force since 1966; categories want to reverse the decision in the Senate
The Chamber of Deputies quietly revoked the minimum salary in force since 1966 for graduates in five categories, including Architecture, Engineering, Agronomy, Chemistry and Veterinary, while nurses across the country fight for the approval of the Bill (PL) nº 2564/2020, known as the Nursing PL, of professional development with a minimum salary and respect for the 30-hour work week.
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Among the arguments is the allegation that companies can no longer live with so many laws. That's what Deputy Marco Bertaiolli (PSD-SP), rapporteur of Provisional Measure (MP) No. 1.040, which supposedly aims to facilitate the opening of companies, told Estadão. The deputy included in the MP, approved in a symbolic vote at the end of June, the repeal of Law No. 4.950-A, which guarantees the minimum wage for these five categories. For graduates in four-year undergraduate courses, the floor is six minimum wages (R$ 6,6). For shorter courses, the floor is five salaries (R$ 5,5).
Revocation of the salary floor for professionals in Architecture, Engineering, Agronomy, Chemistry and Veterinary Science is unconstitutional and goes against the grain of the right to decent remuneration
The so-called “jabuti” in the jargon of the National Congress, included in the MP, is unconstitutional because it has no relation to the main scope of the provisional measure, say defenders of workers' rights. As the federal councils of these categories are mobilizing to revert the measure in the Senate, more than 30 amendments have already been presented to preserve the salary floor for these professionals and guarantee supervision by the councils. They can also go to court.
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For the rapporteur, the only floor that should exist in the country is the minimum wage, the unions of other categories should negotiate with companies, he told the newspaper. “We seek to reduce bureaucracy as much as possible in Brazil. Together with the Ministry of Economy, we seek to repeal legislation that no longer makes sense in reality. One of them is the floor for some specific professions”, says the deputy.
For the author of the PL for Nursing, Senator Fabiano Contarato (Rede-ES), “the revocation of the floors of these five categories goes against the grain of the right to decent remuneration to meet the basic vital needs of the worker, which directly violates the principle of human dignity”.
“There is no justification for withdrawing the minimum wage for these workers. The setting of minimum values for the exercise of professional activities is proportional to the extent and complexity of the work”, said the senator to Estadão.
Amendment will reach more than 1 million professionals
According to Estadão, the vice-president of the Federal Council of Veterinary Medicine (CFMV), Ana Elisa Fernandes de Souza Almeida, questioned how the end of the salary floor of the categories would improve the business environment in the country. For her, the deregulation of professionals' salaries can cause more damage to the quality of services provided than any savings in the companies' payroll.
“The remuneration of qualified professionals is not a commodity that should be regulated only by supply and demand. This amendment will reach more than 1 million professionals, with a harmful change for the population, which will be most affected by the precariousness of services”, she evaluates. “An unskilled service costs more than a small salary savings.”
In the case of chemists, the coordinator of the Institutional and Governmental Relations Committee of the Federal Chemistry Council (CFQ), Rafael Barreto Almada, told reporters that all these technical professionals need to be able to work without subjecting themselves to various financial pressures. According to him, these are professions that are very harassed for the elaboration of projects without the necessary control and rigor.
“The chemist, for example, issues reports, performs analyses, experiments, ranging from food products, medicines, petrochemicals. With the trivialization of the minimum amount to hire this professional, he can start submitting himself to any type of work”, said Almada to the newspaper. “The MP creates misconceptions by making inspection more flexible. The categories' councils are not obstacles, but tools created by society to protect it from bad professionals. The councils prevent this type of professional from acting”, he adds.
Federal councils of these categories mobilize to reverse the measure in the Senate
Caught by surprise by the vote in the Chamber, the federal councils of these categories and other class entities started a movement to convince senators to reverse the measure. As a result, more than 30 amendments have already been presented to preserve the salary floor for these professionals and ensure supervision by the councils.
Now, the federal councils of these categories are mobilizing to reverse the measure in the Senate and are even considering bringing the matter to court. The final text of provisional measure (MP) 1.040, with the aim of facilitating the opening of companies, approved by the Chamber in a symbolic vote at the end of June, has in its article 57 a “revocation” of 33 laws or sections of laws.
“The setting of minimum values for the exercise of professional activities is proportional to the extension and complexity of the work”, evaluates Senator Fabiano Contarato, who is against the removal of the floor. “The revocation goes against the grain of the right to decent remuneration to meet the basic vital needs of the worker, which directly violates the principle of human dignity.”
The argument is that the inclusion of these articles in the MP would be unconstitutional, as it is not related to the main scope of the provisional measure – the so-called “jabuti” in the jargon of the National Congress. The expectation is that the Senate will vote on the MP in the first week of August.
The Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy (Confea) claims to have the support of more than 50 of the 81 senators to maintain the floor.
