Brazilian Postal Workers
On Strike Over Danger
Allowance
Postal workers of a
Brazilian state-owned
company have gone on
strike in a dispute over
the payment of a danger
allowance.
There is confusion over
exactly how many postmen
have joined the
industrial action, with
their union claiming 80
percent and employer
Empresa Brasileira de
Correios e Telegrafos (ECT)
saying it was just 30
percent.
The dispute centers on
the state-owned
company's refusal to
fulfill an agreement to
pay postmen a danger
allowance of 30 percent
of their wages, signed
in Nov. 2007.
The workers' union
claims the terms of the
agreement, which was
ratified this year by
Helio Costa, Brazil's
minister of
communications, has not
been honored.
However, ECT says it
cannot "legally" pay
postmen a danger
allowance, as the
occupation is not
entitled to such
payments under Brazilian
work regulations.
Under pressure, though,
ECT has created a
special external
activities allowance and
Monday paid 260 reais
(about 162.5 U.S.
dollars) to each
employee. The union,
however, demands that
the company stick to the
terms of the original
agreement.
As a result of the
strike, mail delivery is
"the most affected
sector" of the company,
union representative
Jose Goncalves de
Almeida said. He added
that 80 percent of
workers from 22 of the
country's 26 states has
downed tools.
But ECT claimed that
only services offering
guaranteed on-time
delivery have been
"suspended as a
precaution."
The striking workers
also demanded a revision
of the company's career
and profit sharing
plans. They complained
that the union has been
left out of negotiations
on the current plans,
which are "not
favorable" to them.
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