Minister defends release of FAT funds for high school students

The measure would equal opportunities for low-income young people with higher-income families. “The scholarship would give equity to youth”, he said, at the end of the seminar “Perspectives for the Future of Work”, at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan), commemorating Industry Day, celebrated today.

The minister said he was willing to hold a debate internally in the government and with society on this topic, and he considers the FAT to finance social security to be “a mistake”.

“The FAT has to be destined for the protection of workers, unemployment insurance, qualification, training and education of young people,” he said. He believes that there may be a solution to reduce school evasion and raise the level of knowledge of society as a whole, with a view to achieving technological development.

Luiz Marinho clarified that Brazil faces the challenge of improving secondary education, introducing vocational education there as well. The idea is to universalize full-time education, introducing training “for real” in secondary education.

“That young people leave high school prepared for the job market”, he opined. In order to retain the student, so that he does not fail to complete high school, he will receive a scholarship with funds from the FAT and the Ministry of Education (MEC).

The Minister of Labor and Employment recognized that it would not be possible to implement the measure all at once, but gradually. “I think it’s a debate that we have to look to the future and not just the short term. I think Brazil owes this to our youth”.

He also mentioned that, to improve schooling, it does not need to be the standard of South Korea, but of the federal educational institutes.

“We have experience in Brazil. Young people who have the opportunity to go to the federal institute are well-suited for the job market, as they complete high school. This is the standard that we have to implement throughout Brazilian secondary education”, she assured.

collective agreements

Luiz Marinho also defended collective bargaining in the Brazilian labor market. He pointed out that the last reform instituted the mechanism of individual negotiation.

“It valued individual negotiation more than the collective contract. This is a mistake in the legislation and a point that the tripartite group has to visit to bring a solution and value collective bargaining”, he stressed.

For this, he stated that it is necessary to have representative unions. “You have to value the presence of unions, their financial condition to act and represent. That goes for both workers and employers,” he pondered.

Regarding app workers, the minister considered the decision of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), who denied employment to an app driver, determining that the case be considered by the Common Justice and not by Justice. of Labor.

“I think it’s a big mistake. If so, order the Labor Court to close,” she said. In the minister’s assessment, the Public Prosecutor’s Office will file an appeal. “We are going to talk to the minister (Moraes) to sensitize him, because I think it is not the most appropriate decision”. He considered that Alexandre de Moraes has sensitivity and the decision can be revised. “It is a process under debate”, he assured.

Regulation

The application workers’ negotiations constitute a process that the Ministry of Labor is discussing with workers and employers to build a regulatory mechanism.

“We have to regulate this process. Regular from the point of view of economic framework. What is the economic activity of these companies, because there are companies that claim to be in the financial system, technology, even vehicle rental. Brazil has to fit them into a single economic activity and, from there, see what the form of work is. It is possible to think, as I usually call it, of a basket of possibilities, where the worker can have an option, negotiating with the company. If you work exclusively, you have a bond; if he works occasionally, he can be classified as self-employed”, he indicated.

“What needs to be ensured is social protection above all else. Today, these workers have no social protection. This has to be guaranteed. It is necessary to look at the valuation of work, how to have a transparency process on the part of the platforms, establishing what is the base of the remuneration, the minimum. A race cannot be owned by the platform at around 60%, as is said to be the case. You have to be transparent about this. A worker cannot suffer a punishment and not know what that punishment is. And, when dialoguing, he is not dialoguing with a person, but with a machine. There needs to be a person on the other side to give an explanation, to give him comfort, a justification”, pointed out the minister.

For him, the situation is quite nebulous in relation to these relationships and regulation has to bring a solution to this. He stated that there have been separate listening meetings with application workers and companies and, on the 5th of June, the joint working group will be launched, from which a calendar of debates will be taken.

“We hope to arrive at a joint construction to submit to the National Congress”, he anticipated. It is estimated that application workers will reach two million people in the country, but the minister assured that, “regardless of the number, it is necessary to treat them with care”.

FGTS

With regard to the Severance Indemnity Fund (FGTS), the Minister reiterated his decision to “save” the Guarantee Fund because, “at the level we are at, we are destroying the fund in two respects: a fund that protects the worker in the misfortune of unemployment and an investment, housing and sanitation fund that, at the other end, generates job opportunities”.

He assured that the financial system is creating an illusion and a trap for this worker who anticipates his fund and, when he is fired, “as has happened to many people, he realizes that he spent not on a function that is so noble from his point of view. view, how protection would be in the misfortune of unemployment”.

The minister added that “we are weakening the FGTS in these two respects”. To save the FGTS, he reiterated that what was done in the previous government needs to be reviewed. He expressed confidence that such a review could be done later this year.