Ricardo Nunes’ administration (MDB) wants to implement a series of administrative changes that will double the salaries of political candidates, increase to 37% of leadership positions such as deputy mayors, and eliminate about 38,000 positions already vacant. Divided into three projects already submitted to the City Council, the reform envisioned by the City of São Paulo will have the expected effect of R $ 1.1 billion in 2022.

The rationale for the changes, which also provide for an increase in the number of civil servants at the basic and middle level and the cost of additional services paid to those who work in more peripheral areas of the city, is the need to modernize the current legislation and improve the qualifications of civil servants.

If the reform is approved by the councilors, the mayor’s office will adopt a fixed remuneration subsidy system that will include various bonuses and allowances that currently constitute the salary of a civil servant.

Executive Secretary for Governance Fabrizio Cobra Arbex said the administrative changes, together with the proposed increase, correct gaps and balances in amounts paid, for example, to commissioners who are political candidates. Now in the capital about 5,000 people work in these positions, half of them are effective.

According to Arbex, these professionals receive between R $ 12,000 and R $ 14,000 in cities such as Guarulhos and Santos. “They have a lot of responsibility, many are inspectors of millionaire contracts and currently earn a maximum of 5.5 thousand reais. We propose that this amount should reach 10.8 thousand reais, ”he said. state… The increase in this case reaches 96%.

The argument is valid, according to political scientist Marco Antonio Teixeira of FGV-SP, but the current moment of rising spending and poverty is worrying. “Not so long ago, the mayor’s office announced that it was going to reduce the number of lunch boxes distributed to the homeless (and later refused). If there are not enough resources for this type of social service, how can we guarantee income to increase the salaries of those who are already earning good money? “.

According to Nunes’ proposal, those who receive the least will receive the least promotion. At the base level, the expected increase is 23%, and at the average level, R $ 30% (see table). There are 34,134 servers between active and inactive. The fact that retirees benefit indirectly from this measure is an argument in favor of the Nunes administration, which is trying to approve another reform in the House – the social security system that will end the exemption of pensioners who receive more than the minimum wage.

Another advantage of the reform, according to the mayor, is that it eliminates more than 38,000 vacancies that are currently vacant (2,300 have been commissioned), but which can be filled without the approval of the Accounts Chamber. “Upon completion of these appointments, the mayor’s office must prove the source of remuneration for new employees, in addition to submitting a draft related to the Chamber, whenever it wants to announce a competition,” Nunes said.

food stamps

In addition to increasing wages, the city government launched a project to change the form of food stamps, increasing the number of people served and increasing the amount paid. The most interesting will be employees who receive up to three minimum wages per month – their cost will rise from the current 383 reais to 550 reais per month.

Arbex also drew attention to the offering of education and health servers, which operate in the 35 lowest human development index (HDI) districts in the city. “Today we have paid about R $ 100 and are planning to increase it to R $ 447, that is, by 339%. And we are going to increase the total number of these districts to 48 with the intention to retain these specialists. “

According to Teixeira, the economic, social and health crises require policymakers to prioritize the fight against poverty. “Before embarking on a project of this magnitude, ideally, the mayor’s office would wait until the bills are restored, while at the same time caring for the poorest. We must not forget that people are lining up to buy bones. “

Three questions for Ricardo Nunez

1. Does the funds of the mayor’s office support the administrative reform, the impact of which will exceed R $ 1.1 billion in 2022 alone? Isn’t it time to raise salaries, especially in managerial positions?

You can do that. I understand the financial capabilities of the mayor’s office, I worked with the budget throughout my stay as an advisor. We have austerity management and are going to pay off over 38,000 positions. But some of the salaries are very outdated. For example, the number of employees has not been adjusted for 20 years. And most of them were hired and passed state exams. This is not just a political statement.

2. And why is the growth of hired employees much higher than that of other servers? The mayor’s office proposes to almost double the salary paid today.

Precisely because the gap is huge. And also because many of these professionals have huge responsibilities, such as taking care of millionaire contracts, opening applications, monitoring the use of public resources. These are purposeful people who need to be appreciated, as well as other people who will also have to change something.

3. Deputy mayors already earn about R $ 20,000, a salary paid in Brazil to approximately 1% of the population. Why would they need an adjustment too?

They also haven’t had a changeover for many years. The latter was provided by Mayor Gilberto Cassab in 2011. We decided to include deputy mayors, deputy secretaries and cabinet ministers in the reform, even on a proportional basis, since my salary and secretaries’ salaries will also increase. in 2022 (the law was passed by then Mayor Bruno Covas in 2020). They have a huge responsibility, they take care of real cities. If we do not value them, we risk losing them in favor of the private sector, while we need quality personnel in the municipality.

Information from the newspaper State of Sao Paulo.