With white clothes and black umbrellas, symbolizing the mourning for the delay in the implantation of the minimum wage for nursing, health professionals from Porto Alegre held an act on the morning of this Tuesday (14). The demonstration, which is part of a national mobilization agenda, began at 8 am in Largo Glênio Peres, in the center of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
The call was made by the National Nursing Forum and organized by Sindisaúde-RS and by the Nurses Union (Sergs).
After the gathering, the participants walked to the Piratini Palace, where they handed a document to Governor Eduardo Leite (PSDB) in which they requested state support for paying the floor. In addition to the Capital, protests for the floor were registered in the Metropolitan Region and interior, such as at Hospital São Camilo, in Esteio, and at the UPA in Sapucaia do Sul.
In the letter, the entities emphasize that the National Nursing Floor Law is already a reality. “That is why we also request that the government of RS forward to the Legislative Assembly a proposal to amend state laws and the budget, aiming at immediate compliance with the legislation and so that nursing in Rio Grande do Sul can have this benefit in their paychecks as soon as possible”, stress.
Protesters used black umbrellas in mourning for the delay in implementing the nursing salary floor / Photo: Carolina Lima
Law suspended by the Supreme Court
Federal Law No. 14,434, which deals with the nursing floor, authored by Senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES), was sanctioned on August 4, 2022. nursing technicians and R$2,375 for nursing assistants and midwives. However, it was suspended by the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso, in September 2022.
On the occasion, Barroso granted the injunction in response to the request of the National Confederation of Health, Hospitals and Establishments and Services (CNSaúde), which requested that the sources of funds for the payment be indicated.
The president of the Union of Nurses of Rio Grande do Sul (Sergs), Claudia Franco, highlighted that this has already been done. “Pre-salt funds could meet this demand. However, they were never passed on and could generate a resource of R$ 16 billion, which would be enough to maintain resources for philanthropic hospitals and Santas Casas for ten years. This would allow time to nominate permanent funds,” she noted.
The director said it is not true that hospitals will go bankrupt if they pay the floor. “If that was going to happen, it was because the hospitals were benefiting from us. They were taking blood from healthcare workers. They were getting rich off of our money. If they could go bankrupt paying our money, they were profiting from us”, she denounced.
In the evaluation of the president of the Federation of Employees in Health Establishments of Rio Grande do Sul (Feessers), Milton Kempfer, the STF injunction limits the payment, but does not prevent it. “The law will not go back, the law will not go back, the law was approved, it is already written, it is approved by the National Congress. It is the State’s obligation to comply with the legislation and pay the minimum wage for nursing. It is a great achievement”, highlighted the director of Feessers, reinforcing that it is important that the municipalities start adapting to the law.
He highlighted that “nursing has an exhausting workload, a risky job, a job that needs a lot of concentration and a lot of responsibility. That’s why we’re in the fight. Today is a warm up. March 10, if the situation does not change, if the provisional measure and the bureaucratic procedures do not happen, there will be a national stoppage”.
Recognition
The president of Sindisaúde-RS, Julio Jesien, recalled that nursing covers about 2 million professionals in Brazil. “Symbolically, we are here in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, so that nursing workers are valued. We are expressing this concern, the need for municipalities to look differently at the nursing floor, ”he said.
The leader recalled that throughout the pandemic health workers were applauded and society realized the importance of nursing workers. “Now we want the necessary recognition of a fight of more than 20 years”, he stressed.
“We know how salaries are very difficult to put into a family budget. 80% of professionals are women, who often, in addition to working two jobs, also have to face a third shift, which is caring for the family at home, ”she commented.
The general director of the Union of Municipal Workers of Porto Alegre (Simpa), João Ezequiel, stated that the salary floor is a historic achievement and recognition of the importance of the category for the health of the country’s population. He recalled the trajectory of struggles until the approval of the law and that the suspension of the application of the floor by the STF is the result of lobbying by entrepreneurs in the private health sector and governments that do not want to pay the floor to the category.
“We have to guarantee the rights of people who work in such a strategic and important area and who serve the majority of the population and make the SUS work. The floor was approved and we need to seek implementation by the public authorities”, defended the president of CUT-RS, Amarildo Cenci.
*With information from CUT-RS, Sindisaúde-RS, Sergs and Correio do Povo
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Source: BdF Rio Grande do Sul
Editing: Marcelo Ferreira
