The Senate approved this Tuesday (2) the bill (PL) 1791/2019 which deals with the use of employees of public companies in the electricity sector that were privatized by the National Privatization Program (PND). The text, which is headed for approval by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was presented as part of the Eletrobras privatization process, completed in 2022.
According to the proposal, employees of companies in the electrical sector responsible for the production, transmission, distribution and sale of electrical energy must be employed in other public companies or mixed-economy companies in jobs with duties and salaries compatible with those held in the privatized company, when there is no option to remain within the company’s staff.
The project’s rapporteur, senator Sérgio Petecão (PSD-AC) said that the proposal aims to avoid laying off workers, with an “undeniable impact” on the economic reality of the regions where these companies operate. The senator pointed out that one of the most frequent measures after privatization is the reduction in the number of employees, justifying the need to cut costs.
“This could be advantageous for the company’s new shareholders, but harmful for the consumer or user of the public service. Recent problems in the provision of public electricity distribution services in the city of São Paulo have been associated with the reduction promoted by the concessionaire Enel in its workforce, of around 51.5% over a period of five years”, he stated.
Since 2021, when the Provisional Measure providing for the privatization of Eletrobras was sent to the National Congressby the end of 2023, there were 3,614 dismissals in Eletrobras group companies. The senator also stated that most of the workers who lost their jobs were over 50 years of age.
“[Isso] it is particularly perverse, given the greater difficulty faced by this group in the process of relocating to the job market”, he stated. “There is no doubt that those most affected by these cuts in the number of employees are themselves and their families”, he said.
