Attention! Chamber of Deputies Ends Minimum Wage for Professionals in Agronomy, Architecture, Engineering, and More Categories in Place for 55 Years

Deputies Approved the Repeal of the Minimum Wage for Agronomists, Architects, Engineers, and More Professionals, That Had Been in Force Since 1966; Categories Want to Reverse the Decision in the Senate

The Chamber of Deputies quietly revoked the minimum wage in effect since 1966 for graduates in five categories, including Architecture, Engineering, Agronomy, Chemistry, and Veterinary Medicine, while nurses across the country fight for the approval of Bill No. 2564/2020, known as the Nursing Bill, aimed at professional recognition with a minimum wage and respect for a 30-hour workweek.

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Among the arguments is the claim that companies can no longer operate with so many laws. This was stated to Estadão by Deputy Marco Bertaiolli (PSD-SP), rapporteur of Provisional Measure (MP) No. 1,040 which supposedly aims to simplify the opening of businesses. The deputy included in the MP, approved in symbolic voting at the end of June, the repeal of Law No. 4,950-A, which guarantees the minimum wage for these five categories. For graduates of four-year degree programs, the minimum wage is six minimum salaries (R$ 6,6 thousand). For shorter courses, the minimum wage is five salaries (R$ 5,5 thousand).

Repeal of the Minimum Wage for Professionals in Architecture, Engineering, Agronomy, Chemistry, and Veterinary Medicine is Unconstitutional and Goes Against the Right to Dignified 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 primary scope of the provisional measure, claim advocates for workers’ rights. As the federal councils of these categories mobilize to reverse the measure in the Senate, more than 30 amendments have already been presented to preserve the minimum wage for these professionals and ensure oversight by the councils. They may also turn to the courts.

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For the rapporteur, the only minimum wage that should exist in the country is the minimum wage, and unions of other categories should negotiate with companies, he said to the newspaper. “We seek to de-bureaucratize Brazil as much as possible. Together with the Ministry of Economy, we aim to repeal legislations that no longer make sense in reality. One of them is the minimum wage for certain specific professions,” says the deputy.

For the author of the Nursing Bill, Senator Fabiano Contarato (Rede-ES), “the repeal of the minimum wages for these five categories goes against the right to dignified remuneration to meet the basic vital needs of the worker, which directly violates the principle of human dignity.”

“There is no justification for the removal of the minimum wage for these workers. Setting minimum values for the exercise of professional activities is proportional to the extent and complexity of the work,” the senator told Estadão.

Amendment Will Affect Over 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 ending the minimum wage for the categories would improve the business environment in the country. For her, deregulating the salaries of professionals may bring more harm to the quality of services provided than any eventual savings in companies’ payrolls.

“The remuneration of qualified professionals is not a commodity that should be regulated solely by supply and demand. This amendment will affect over 1 million professionals, resulting in harmful changes for the population, who will be hit hardest by the deterioration of services,” she assesses. “An unqualified service costs more than a small salary reduction.”

In the case of chemists, the coordinator of the Committee on Institutional and Government Relations of the Federal Council of Chemistry (CFQ), Rafael Barreto Almada, told reporters that all these technical professionals need to have the conditions to work without being subjected to various financial pressures. According to him, these are highly demanded professions for project development without the necessary control and rigor.

“The chemist, for example, issues reports, conducts analyses, and experiments that encompass everything from food products, medications, petrochemicals. With the banalization of the minimum value for hiring this professional, he may end up subjecting himself to any type of work,” Almada stated to the newspaper. “The MP creates erroneous concepts by relaxing oversight. The councils of the categories are not obstacles but tools created by society to protect it from bad professionals. The councils prevent such professionals from acting,” he concludes.

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 initiated a movement to persuade senators to reverse the measure. As a result, more than 30 amendments have already been presented to preserve the minimum wage for these professionals and ensure oversight by the councils.

Now, the federal councils of these categories are mobilizing to reverse the measure in the Senate and are even considering legal action. The final text of Provisional Measure (MP) 1,040, aimed at facilitating the opening of businesses, approved by the Chamber in symbolic voting at the end of June, contains in its article 57 a “revocation” of 33 laws or sections of laws.

“Setting minimum values for the exercise of professional activities is proportional to the extent and complexity of the work,” assesses Senator Fabiano Contarato, who is against the removal of the minimum wage. “The repeal goes against the right to dignified remuneration to meet the basic vital needs of the worker, which directly violates the principle of human dignity.”

The argument is that including these articles in the MP would be unconstitutional, as they bear no relation to the primary 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 minimum wage.