Fecomércio (Federation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism) of Rio de Janeiro stated that the salary floor of merchants in the state has been readjusted through collective agreements.
According to the institution, which represents more than 300,000 commercial establishments in the state, the adjustments “recomposed the purchasing power of the minimum wage in this period, without the need for State interference”.
The entity’s argument differs from what was said during the first debate between the candidates for the Rio de Janeiro government, held by TV Bandeirantes last Sunday (7th).
At the beginning of the debate, candidate Marcelo Freixo (PSB) stated that his first measure if elected will be to readjust the regional minimum wage, without a state adjustment since 2019.
“The first act I’m going to do will be to send a message unfreezing the regional minimum wage, frozen by Witzel and Cláudio since 2019, the only one in Brazil,” he said.
Fecomércio’s assessment is that wages should not be readjusted by decree, since “in practice, this distorts the reality of the labor market in an artificial action, without support for economic development and with a direct impact on the generation of employment and income”.
The establishment of the salary floor by the regional executive powers is regulated by Federal Complementary Law No. 103/2000, and is not applicable to public servants.
The entity cites as an example the case of employees of electrical, electronic and appliance stores and supermarket workers, who had readjustments approved between June and July of this year, resulting from conventions.
For the first group, the agreement provides for a 10% salary adjustment as of October and an allowance of R$650 paid in two installments of R$325 in the August and September payrolls. The floor will be R$ 1,439 as of October.
As for supermarket employees, the increase is 12.5%, instituting the minimum wage at R$ 1,531, also starting in October.
Read the full note released by Fecomércio RJ:
Fecomércio RJ, an institution that represents more than 300 thousand establishments that account for 2/3 of the state’s economic activity, comes to clarify the proposal to increase the regional salary floor discussed in the debate of candidates for the government of Rio this Sunday (07/08). ), on TV Bandeirantes.
It is not true that the salary floor in the state of Rio de Janeiro has not been updated for three years. Collective labor agreements restored the purchasing power of the minimum wage during this period, without the need for State interference.
At the end of July, for example, the Union of Retail Foodstuffs, affiliated to Fecomércio RJ, and the Union of Trade Employees in the capital signed a collective bargaining agreement in which they established a salary floor of R$ 1,531 for workers in supermarkets, a value well above the regional minimum established by the government in states such as São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.
Salary is not increased by decree. In practice, this distorts the reality of the labor market in an artificial action, without support for economic development and with a direct impact on the generation of employment and income.
Rio suffered severely from unemployment in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and is only now resuming job creation. A strong economy, which generates employment and increases the demand for labor, is the best way to improve the income of workers.
Last year, 177 thousand jobs were created and it is this performance over time and with consistency, and not a decree, that will be able to raise the salary in a sustainable way.
Fecomércio RJ is proud of having had an independent position in recent decades, focused on concrete measures, and not on governments or politicians, always open to dialogue. And the entity defends, once again, that three pillars are fundamental for the resumption of Rio de Janeiro: legal security, predictability and focus on job creation. Without these actions, no decree will be able to effectively develop our State.
*Posted by Renata Souza
Source: CNN Brasil
