President Jair Bolsonaro this Monday (21) praised the work of the Federal Highway Police (PRF) and signaled a possible readjustment in the salary of the category. He cited the seizure of 1,800 tons of drugs and the arrest of around 130,000 suspects over the past three years.
“So these are numbers that, by themselves, show the importance of the PRF, the value and appreciation they deserve from us. It is a serious institution, like others we have in our country. And we have to value them. I hope that society understands that this must be done. We are going through a difficult time with the pandemic where we regret all the deaths, but we also suffered a blow to the economy. And some categories, or rather all categories, deserve to be valued. Who we can save up front, we save. And I hope the understanding of the other categories, the other servants in Brazil. What we want is to recognize the work of all and our PRF is included in this list that deserves this recognition” , he said during an event to launch the new digital platforms on human rights and the training of civil servants and organizations.
At the end of last year, the National Congress approved the 2022 Budget with a reserve of BRL 1.7 billion for readjusting the federal security forces and around BRL 800 million for community health workers and agents to combat endemic diseases. However, the increase reserved only for public security employees, which would include PRF, Federal Police and federal penitentiary agents, displeased other categories of the federal executive, who threaten the outbreak of a national strike in the public service.
Last month, representatives of about 50 federal civil service categories they even paralyzed activities for a day and held protests today in Brasília. They ask for readjustments ranging from 20% to 28.15%, depending on the career.
In recent weeks, Bolsonaro has been saying that no category has a guaranteed readjustment. According to estimates from the Budget Guidelines Law of 2022, each 1% readjustment for the civil service implies an increase of R$ 3 billion in expenses. If the demand for a 28.15% increase were met, the government would have an extra expense of R$84.45 billion per year.
As 2022 is an election year, the legislation prohibits increases within a period of less than six months (180 days) before the election, which takes place on October 2nd. In this case, any salary adjustment must be proposed by April 2.
