The partial postal strike in Brazil has ended in most areas after unions accepted a higher payoffer and mail and parcel deliveries are operating normally in most parts of the country.
Postal unions in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rondônia and Bauru voted on Friday (September 13) toaccept the 8% pay offer from Correios (ECT) but it was rejected by unions in Rio Grande do Norteand Tocantins.
These six regional unions, which are part of the Sintect federation but not part of the largerFentect federation, had launched “indefinite” strike action on September 12 to press their claimsfor a higher pay rise. Brazilian media have reported that unions in the north-eastern states ofPernambuco and Paraiba have now also joined the strike.
Correios had offered a 5.27% pay rise for the 120,000 staff but the Fentect federation of postalworkers demanded a 47.8% increase in wages, comprising 7.13% to cover inflation, a real increase of15% and a further 20% to cover losses from past periods of wage restraint. On Friday, Correiosimproved its offer to 8%, comprising 6.27% to cover inflation and a real increase of 1.5%, in orderto resolve the dispute.
The Brazilian postal operator said that 92.15% of its employees, or 114,696 persons, had workednormally on Friday. On Thursday, 93.3% had worked as planned, and 78% of daily volumes had beensuccessfully delivered, it added. All services were operating normally apart from the services fortime-definite delivery of goods and Disque Coleta.
Correios put a contingency plan into action to maintain services, including relocating staff todifferent units, extending working hours and adding weekend shifts.
Last year Brazil suffered a drawn-out pay dispute when workers went on strike for 28 days andBrazil’s top labour court had to end the strike by imposing a 6.5% pay rise.
