Brazilian court orders environmental workers to resume licenses and fire protection despite strikes

By Ricardo Brito

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Workers at Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama must resume their licensing and forest fire prevention activities despite strikes, Og ​​Fernandes, acting president of Brazil’s Supreme Court, said in a ruling on Thursday.

The decision was made as severe fires rage in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands and the oil industry is hampered by a lack of licenses for its activities.

Ibama employees have been delaying the granting of licenses since January amid an ongoing dispute with the government over wages and working conditions. Last month they called a strike.

Last week, oil industry lobby group IBP said the license shortage had already impacted production of 200,000 barrels per day. Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras said the license shortage had affected its operations at three oil fields.

In his decision, Fernandes ordered that all Ibama employees involved in forest fire prevention and the issuing of environmental licenses must return to their jobs. However, he did not comment on the legality of the strike, which will be examined at a later date.

The trade union group Ascema said in a statement that the strike was legal.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Bill Berkrot)