Employees of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) began 2023 mobilized to strengthen the indigenous body, after years of scrapping, mainly under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). A vigil this week in Brasília (DF) seeks to gather support inside and outside the government for the implementation of Funai’s Career Plan and the holding of a public tender.
The vigil is the second act held by public servants this year and is scheduled for this Wednesday (15) from 11:30 am on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI). The objective is to sensitize the MGI, one of the bodies that needs to authorize the proposed Career Plan.
“The extremely precarious working conditions, combined with low wages, the lack of incentives for professional qualification and the lack of compensation for adverse work situations, in remote and difficult-to-access locations, generate a picture of chronic weakening of the workforce of the Funai, with a very high rate of evasion, especially of the civil servants who have recently been hired”.
Read more: ‘We are definitely going to remove gold miners from indigenous lands’, says Lula in Roraima
This assessment is made by Mônica Carneiro, a specialized indigenist at Funai and coordinator of the Communication and Press Secretariat of the Union of Federal Public Servants in the Federal District (Sindsep-DF). According to her, the lack of investment in the institution puts the guarantee of indigenous rights and the maintenance of cultural plurality and socio-biodiversity in the country at risk.
The helplessness of Funai employees gained international prominence with the death of indigenist Bruno Pereira, in Atalaia do Norte (AM). He had taken leave from the Foundation to act in the territorial protection of the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, after being exonerated from a leadership position by the then Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro (União Brasil).
Scrapping can make Funai unfeasible
Funai operates today with 46% of positions occupied. Of the active servants, one third are old enough to ask for retirement. The union of the category fears that the situation could make the continuity of the execution of indigenous policies unfeasible, especially in more isolated areas of the Legal Amazon. According to the director of Sindisep, hiring new people is not enough to guarantee Funai’s full functioning.
“To recompose the staff, a budget is needed for new competitions. But the measure is insufficient and can only ‘dry the ice’, since the current remuneration and the precarious working conditions mean that people remain in positions for a short time, as they they look for tenders that offer better working conditions or end up migrating to the third sector”, explains the employee.
:: Widows of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips return to the region where they were murdered ::
Burdened by the increase in complaints of violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, Funai officials say that the precariousness reflected the neglect of the indigenous issue by the Bolsonaro government, investigated for genocide of indigenous peoples and the target of complaints for the same crime in international courts.
Mônica Carneiro, from Sindsep, reports that Funai employees experienced the worst moment under the Bolsonarist administration. The work was done without adequate conditions of transport, security or equipment. It lacked support from Funai’s summit in Brasília, commanded until 2022 by Federal Police (PF) delegate Marcelo Xavier.
“In this sense, the civil servants argued that the implementation of a career plan, which, although it does not exhaust the subject of indigenous working conditions, is a beginning of recognition and dignity for the work of these professionals, since it equates Funai’s remuneration with that of other public agencies of the Federal Executive Power and establishes incentives for professional qualification”, pointed out the unionist.
Career plan needs to be processed by May
Funai’s career plan has been discussed by the Confederation of Workers in the Federal Public Service (Condsef) since 2004. In 2018, the proposal was updated in an institutional Funai Working Group, with the endorsement of national class entities, Indigenistas Associados (INA) and the National Association of Funai Employees (Ansef).
The category asks for agility in the processing of the proposal, since the deadline for insertion in the Annual Budget Law (LOA) ends in May. Before, the career plan needs to undergo technical analyzes by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), the Civil House and the Ministry of Budget and Planning. Afterwards, it goes to Congress for approval.
Recall: Unpublished dossier reveals how Bolsonaro turned Funai into an anti-indigenous body
The proposal was forwarded in 2018 for analysis by the then Ministry of Justice and Public Security, a folder that housed Funai, and later to the Ministry of Economy. Even warned of the risk of paralyzing activities due to the “chronic weakening” of the category, Paulo Guedes’ management sent the proposal back to Funai without analysis.
“Last year, during our civil service strike and mobilization, which began in resistance to the dismantling of the indigenous policy, institutionalized moral harassment and, above all, to respond to the murder of the indigenists Bruno, Dom and Maxciel, the unions and associations were able to start a sectoral negotiation process with Funai, still in the old management, to deal with some labor issues”, said Mônica Carneiro.
Editing: Thalita Pires
