Court upholds salary cuts for striking Federal Police

The Chief Justice (“presidente”) of the Southern Regional Federal Court (“Tribunal Regional Federal da 4th Region) in Porto Alegre suspended an injunction (“liminar”) that halted docking salaries of Federal Police in Rio Grande do Sul. The decision was made on Saturday, August 25.

In her ruling, the judge (“desembargadora”), Marga Inge Barth Tessler, declared: “The risk of grave damage to orderly public administration is evident due to the substantial reduction of Federal Police services…”

The injunction halting salary cuts was obtained by the labor union that represents the Federal Police. Judge Tessler accepted a motion to overturn it by the federal Office of Government Attorneys (“AGU”).

Federal Police have been on strike since August 7. Among other demands, they insist that their salaries, which begin at R$7,500, should be the same as salaries for police chiefs (“delegados”), which begin at R$13,400. The last time the Federal Police went on strike it lasted two months – that was in 2004.

The question of the constitutionality of cutting off salaries (“corte de ponto”) of striking federal civil servants (“servidores públicos federais”) is the subject of a lawsuit filed at the Supreme Court by at least four labor unions.