The State Union of Education Professionals of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sepe-RJ) is holding an assembly this morning (29) to decide the course of the municipal teachers’ strike, which began on Monday (25), and yesterday (28 ), there was a court decision to suspend the movement, with a fine of R$500,000 to the category entity and R$5,000 to the union directors for each day of non-compliance with the order.
The general coordinator of Sepe-RJ, Helenita Bezerra, who participated in the assembly, said that the union has not yet been officially notified of the Court’s decision. “The management was not notified. The union has not been notified to date, so there is no information on the table. As soon as it arrives, the legal department will look into it and pass on guidance to management,” he told Brazil Agencyadding that there is a tendency for the category to decide to continue the strike.
Suspension
In the decision, the president of the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ), judge Ricardo Rodrigues Cardoso, ordered the immediate interruption of the strike by teachers in Rio’s municipal network and the return of employees to work.
The decision responded to a request from Rio City Hall, which argued that the strike was illegal through a collective strike agreement. “The municipality reported that there was no prior notice regarding the strike movement and no attempt at dialogue between the category and the Municipal Department of Education”, informed the TJRJ.
For the president of the Court, the union did not comply with “basic elements to guarantee the legality of the strike”, such as the exhaustion of the attempt at dialogue and the minimum prior notification of 48 hours.
“In a first analysis, there is no proof of the exhaustion of the negotiation process and its frustration. On the contrary, the ID document. 01, in Annex 1, demonstrates that, on the same day that the meeting was called by the Union, it was decided to start the wall movement immediately and without a final end”, indicated the judge.
According to the president of the TJRJ, “there is no doubt that the activities of education employees are essential”, which for him, is a limiting factor for the exercise of the right to strike. The judge also determined that the city hall deduct the salary proportional to the days of illegal stoppage.
In an attempt to reach an agreement, a hearing was scheduled for December 11th, at 3 pm, which will be virtual. “The category union demands the shelving of Bill 186/2024, which expands the number of classes for teachers and brings changes to rights such as vacations and licenses. Teachers and employees at schools in the municipality also demand the repeal of Law 8666/2024, which increases temporary contracts in the network to up to six years”, concluded the TJRJ in a note.
The management of Sepe-RJ informed in a note published in its website that she was surprised “by news in the media of a supposed judicial decision that determines the end of the legitimate strike by education professionals in the municipal network of Rio de Janeiro”.
The union stated that the category’s general assembly can define the next steps. “Sepe-RJ has a tradition of respecting its democratic forums, and the general assembly of the category is the space in which the direction of our struggle is decided. It is in the assembly that we decide to go on strike, its continuation or its end”, he said.
The statement adds that the category repudiates “the different tactics of the government and the courts in criminalizing the movement and prohibiting the right to strike: from salary discounts, withdrawal of union licenses, threat of punishments and declaring the strike illegal. Justice has a side, and generally it is not that of the workers.”
Finally, the note called the teachers to this Friday’s assembly, at the São Clemente samba school court, in the central region of Rio, “to discuss the direction of our fight!”
The Municipal Department of Education informed the Brazil Agency “that the municipal network is moving towards the end of the school year and will follow the normal planning of the school calendar, without changes”.
