Firemen camp out in front of legislative assembly for salary increase and freedom of colleagues

About 30 firemen spent most of the night camped out in front of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly (“Alerj”) as part of a protest that began on Friday, June 3. The Friday protest ended abruptly when 439 demonstrating firemen were arrested after they invaded the Fire Department headquarters.

At the moment, the protest for a salary increase in front of the Alerj is also a protest in favor of the release of the 439 firemen who were arrested by the governor.

In a note on Sunday, June 5, the state governor, Sérgio Cabral, once again repudiated the demonstration saying that the forced entrance into the headquarters building was “a gesture of immense irresponsibility.”

Also on Sunday, there was a short demonstration by around 50 firemen on the Rio-Niteroi Bridge.

Yesterday, there was an assembly of firemen soldiers and corporals (“Associação de Soldados e Cabos do Corpo de Bombeiros”) to discuss the situation.

This strike by Rio de Janeiro firemen must be seen against the background of the debate on a constitutional amendment (“PEC 300”) that would raise the salaries of policemen and firemen in all states to the level of the salaries of  policemen and firemen in the Federal District (Brasilia) [which, of course, are the highest in the country]. The problem, for the government and governors, is that the estimated cost of PEC 300 would be billions and billions more than anyone can afford.