Brazil’s environmental workers must limit strikes

The Brazilian government has won a significant victory in its months-long battle against striking environmental protection workers demanding higher wages.

The Supreme Court, Brazil’s second-highest court, issued an injunction requiring these agencies to maintain 100 percent staff capacity in activities such as environmental permits, managing protected areas, rescuing endangered animals and preventing forest fires. Unions face fines of 200,000 Brazilian reals (nearly $36,400) for each day they fail to comply with the injunction.

The court’s decision came in response to a request from the Attorney General. The government’s Attorney General argued that the strike was “illegal” and “abusive.” He stressed that environmental inspections and licensing are important activities that should not be stopped.

The judge who issued the injunction stressed that the strike involved civil servants carrying out “activities crucial to environmental protection policy”, which justified certain restrictions on the right to strike.

Since the beginning of the year, employees of the Ministry of the Environment, the environmental protection agency Ibama and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) have participated in go-slows and strikes to pressure the government to increase salaries and…