who are we?
Who are we?
Contact: places.mre@gmail.com
www.aflex.org
Thus began Operation Awakening
www.aflex.org
Consulate General
of Brazil in Atlanta
Consulate General
of Brazil in Boston
Consulate General of Brazil in Frankfurt
Consulate General of Brazil in Munich
Consulate General of Brazil in Frankfurt
Consulate General of Brazil in Munich
Consulate General
of Brazil in Hartford
Consulate General
of Brazil in Los Angeles
Consulate General
of Brazil in Houston
Consulate General
of Brazil in New York
Consulate General
of Brazil in San Francisco
Consulate General
of Brazil in Miami
Consulate General
of Brazil in Washington
Consulate General
of Brazil in Nagoya (Japan)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Montreal (Canada)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Toronto (Canada)
Consulate General
of Brazil in London (England)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Paris (France)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Barcelona (Spain)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Geneva (Switzerland)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Rivera (Uruguay)
Consulate General
of Brazil in Mexico City
(Mexico)
Consulate General of Brazil in Lisbon (Portugal)
Consulate General of Brazil in Sydney (Australia)
Consulate General of Brazil in Lisbon (Portugal)
Consulate General of Brazil in Sydney (Australia)
Vice-Consulate of
Brazil in Artigas (Uruguay)
Vice-Consulate of
Brazil in Rio Branco (Uruguay)
New York Financial
Office
Mission to the
UN
Mission to the
OAS
Mission to
FAO
Embassy of Brazil
in Washington (USA)
Embassy of Brazil
in London (England)
Brazilian Embassy
in Paris (France)
Brazilian Embassy
in Berlin (Germany)
Embassy of Brazil
in Amman (Jordan)
Embassy of Brazil
in Dublin (Ireland)
Embassy of Brazil
in Rome (Italy)
Embassy of Brazil
in Bern (Switzerland)
Embassy of Brazil
in Ottawa (Canada)
Embassy of Brazil
in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago)
Embassy of Brazil
in Prague (Czech Republic)
Brazilian Embassy
in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
Thus began Operation Awakening
In an Open Letter,
reproduced below, addressed to the President of
Brazil, the Local Officials of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs working in the USA (Embassy,
Consulates, Diplomatic Missions), initiated
Operation Awakening, which soon had the support and
adhesion of many other local officials around the
world.
"United States of America,
May 1, 2011.
THE
Her Excellency, President
Dilma Roussef
Planalto Palace
Three Powers
Square
Brasilia-DF
Madam President,
We respectfully address Your
Excellency to inform you of the conditions that we,
local employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
mostly Brazilian citizens, face in the various Posts
of the service network abroad.
We hire thousands of locals
worldwide, approved through a selection process,
bilingual, many with higher education degrees. Our
responsibilities range from simple document
processing to providing social, moral, and
psychological assistance to Brazilians living
abroad. Our work is crucial to the diverse and
important tasks performed by Missions abroad. We are
the link between the Posts and the location where
they are located, as we live in the country and know
the local language, customs, and culture.
Furthermore, the Ministry does not have enough staff
to meet the high demand for personnel abroad.
Unfortunately, we are
neither valued nor compensated accordingly. We were
aware of your government's budget cuts and the
resulting reduction in funding for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, which we understand. Furthermore,
we received information in early 2011 that we could
not even request a raise or increase for the current
year, given the current budget constraints. However,
many of us have not received a salary increase for
years. Meanwhile, even in countries like the United
States, the cost of living has risen and continues
to rise significantly, flattening our wages to
unsurvivable levels.
Many of us have resigned.
However, we don't believe this is a solution for
both employees and employers, since attrition is
harmful to the Ministry. Each time someone leaves,
another selection process must be conducted, and a
new employee must be trained. Training can take a
long time, until this new employee is qualified—and
perhaps decides to seek a better salary elsewhere,
thus creating a vicious and costly cycle for the
Ministry.
We ask the President of the
Republic to be sensitive and reconsider our
situation. We greatly admire her personal and
political history, which we know has always been
focused on democracy and social justice. We, locally
hired workers, work daily on this front line of
Brazilian foreign policy, but we have lost our
dignity as workers. Many of us pay INSS (National
Institute of Social Security) in Brazil, and because
our salaries are not adjusted to the Brazilian
minimum wage, we have suffered real wage losses: the
monthly deduction is increasingly greater,
especially due to the appreciation of the Brazilian
currency and the exchange rate. This is one of the
circumstances that has considerably worsened our
financial situation.
Topics for
consideration:
- Definition of laws:
Brazilian local employees
are required to pay INSS (National Social Security)
contributions, which are already deducted monthly
from their salaries. We were informed by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) that the INSS
deduction, at the maximum rate, only entitles us to
retirement benefits. The INSS states that the
monthly payment entitles us to: retirement benefits
based on length of service, disability benefits,
accident benefits, sickness benefits, imprisonment
benefits, family allowances, and maternity benefits.
None of these benefits have been applied to us local
employees, nor have we received the 13th-month
salary, 1/3 vacation pay, or FGTS (Fund for
Severance Indemnity Fund), as required by the CLT
(Consolidation of Labor Laws).
Local employees are often
required to man the Consular Office's on-call cell
phone, without any extra pay or compensation for
their working hours. Occasionally, we receive calls
from Brazilian and foreign authorities, citizens in
emergency situations, the press, and families
searching for lost relatives or those involved in
disasters, all in need of immediate assistance, and
we have the responsibility to take appropriate
action. In this case, Brazilian and local labor laws
are disregarded.
Often, employees work
weekends to meet the schedule of traveling
consulates (employees travel to remote regions to
provide consular services to citizens unable to
visit the local headquarters), and the compensation
received corresponds only to travel allowances, not
to hours worked. Local law establishes a salary of
1.5 to 2 times the hourly rate paid during the
business week. Brazilian labor law provides for an
additional 1.5 times the hourly rate on Saturdays,
and a 2 times hourly rate on Sundays.
Unfortunately, the "Law of
Convenience" applies to us. Depending on the
circumstances and the case, Brazilian law becomes
imperative, but in others, local law is cited and
overrides. In this legal instability, and with no
defined jurisdiction, local MRE officials become
easy prey for abuse and despotism.
- Defining a salary adjustment policy:
Most Posts haven't received
a salary increase for years, and when adjustments
are authorized, the initiative doesn't originate
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Post Chief
is responsible for making the request and supporting
it with economic data, with no guarantee that the
request will be granted.
An annual adjustment policy
is necessary, so that there is no discrepancy
between our salary, the job market and local living
conditions (see attached example).
- Definition of minimum wage according to the role performed:
The starting salary for
local hires is below market value. A bilingual
professional in the United States earns 44% to
23.51% more for performing simple and basic tasks,
which pale in comparison to the responsibilities
assigned to us.
- Defining a career plan:
The lack of incentives and
career prospects generates clear dissatisfaction,
and the consequence is high turnover at the
stations, which harms the service provided.
We count on your esteemed
consideration so that we can continue serving the
Brazilian community abroad, as well as
foreigners.
“Therefore, I hereby
record another commitment to my
country:
Value democracy in all
its dimensions, from the right to opinion and
expression to the essential rights of food,
employment and income, decent housing and social
peace.
I will ensure the
broadest and most unrestricted freedom of the
press.
I will ensure the
broadest freedom of religion and
worship.
I will ensure the careful
and permanent observance of the human rights so
clearly enshrined in our
constitution.
I will, finally, uphold
our Constitution, the greatest duty of the
Presidency of the Republic..."
“We will definitely not
sell our wealth to leave the people only
crumbs...”
“The modern vision of
economic development is one that values the
worker and his family...”
(Dilma Roussef –
President-elect)
This message is signed
electronically, but we will send a written version
soon, with our signatures, we who follow Your
Excellency's work with faith and great hope, for a
Brazil that, in recent years, has only
improved.
Respectfully, (here are 204
names and the respective positions to which they are
assigned)."
PRESS RELEASE - Operation
Wake-Up Call
Local employees at the
Brazilian Diplomatic Mission have begun a peaceful
protest entitled “Operation Wake-Up Call.” Reaching
out to more than 600 personnel in 30 Brazilian
Missionary Posts in 10 countries, this number keeps
growing.
“Operation Wake-Up Call” has
been planned in phases; we've sent correspondence to
Brazilian President Mrs. Dilma Roussef on May 5th,
2011. Initially the letter has been signed by 204
local employees in the USA, the largest number in
history. A copy of the letter can be found
separately. Days passed and similar letters have
been sent by Brazilian Missionary Posts in the UK
and Germany, while others are being prepared.
In 1995, Decree 1,570 (a
local law) was in effect, giving labor jurisdiction
to the countries where the posts were located. These
labor rules are not the same as those in the
Brazilian constitution. While the theory seemed
fine, practice has changed a lot. Upper management
at the Brazilian Diplomatic Mission puts in action
what is most convenient, oscillating between the
local rules and the Brazilian laws. Local personnel
are left in limbo with no protection.
A good example is the
mandatory contribution to an equivalent Brazilian
Social Security, INSS (Instituto Nacional de
Seguridade Social) by all employees in the US who
are not American citizens. We all contribute with
the maximum deduction, but are only entitled to
retirement pay, nothing else. The INSS has informed
everyone that the benefit can be used, but the local
laws don't guarantee it.
Another example is the
complete ignorance regarding the “13th month
salary,” a common practice under Brazilian law. In
the USA, the local employees have no rights to such
a benefit, since salaries are paid on a weekly or
bi-weekly basis. The salary is calculated on a
monthly basis so it is divided into 4 weeks. Since
the year has 52 weeks and not 48, local employees
will be missing a full month of pay. The management
does not follow the local laws, nor the Brazilian
ones.
There are many examples to
be cited, all related to work laws and regulations.
There are no clear rules or work agreements with
transparent regulatory laws, indicating a foreign or
Brazilian overrule. All cases are studied and
resolved on an individual basis; workers have no
protection.
We are looking for our
rights in labor laws, as we feel left out by our own
country. We are under the impression that no one
wants to set the rules on regulations in the
Diplomatic Brazilian Missions.
We are hoping for the
Brazilian government to listen to our appeal and
reflect upon our situation. We also have the option
to go on a 24-hour standoff, although it may not be
necessary should the government respond to our
request.
We do not intend to harm the
routine in these 30 posts; our solemn intention is
to open up a dialogue with our employer and resolve
the issue in question.
Operation 'Wake-up Call' -
600 members:
Brazilian Embassy in
Washington
UN Mission - in New York,
OEA Mission - in Washington
Consulate General of Brazil
in New York, Washington, Boston, Hartford, Atlanta,
Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco.
Brazilian Embassy in
Paris
Consulate General of Brazil
in Paris
Brazilian Embassy in
London
Consulate General of Brazil
in London
Brazilian Embassy in
Berlin
Consulate General of Brazil
in Frankfurt and Munchen
Brazilian Embassy in
Bern
Consulate General of Brazil
in Geneva
Brazilian Embassy in
Dublin
Consulate General of Brazil
in Barcelona
Brazilian Embassy in Ama -
Jordan
Consulate General of Brazil
in Mexico
Brazilian Embassy in
Ottawa
Consulate General of Brazil
in Montreal
Brazilian Financial Office
in New York
Brazilian Embassy in Rome
Brazilian Embassy in Rome
May Brazilian diplomacy recognize and respect the valuable and indispensable work of local workers!
I am Brazilian with experience abroad, knowledgeable about and supportive of the noble and dignified cause of local workers.
Justice and Dignity for Local Workers!