Government works to avoid truckers’ strike action following end of diesel tax exemption

The federal government is working to prevent a crisis with truck drivers. The executive branch seeks to avoid a new strike, such as the one that paralyzed the country in 2018. But at the same time, it seeks to retain maximum support from a group that supported President Jair Bolsonaro in the elections, at a time in which the president’s approval ratings are threatened.

In February, Gazeta do Povo showed that the changes at Petrobras gave Bolsonaro a boost against a joint trucker strike for April. But since then, according to many of them, the government has delivered on very few of the guidelines negotiated with the autonomous transporters.

Even worse, they did not renew the zero rate of PIS and COFINS on diesel, which was in force in March and April. As a result, the two taxes – which add up to R $ 0.33 per liter of fuel – were charged again last Saturday (1st), which should result in higher prices.

With no prospect of improvement in the short term, signs of a new strike are beginning to emerge, albeit timidly. Even leaders opposed to a standstill admit that the risk exists. They explain that while agribusiness celebrates the record harvest that drives exports and should help Brazil achieve its first external trade surplus in 14 years, the category is dealing with reduced freight values ​​and high fuel prices.

The Secretary of Infrastructure, Tarcísio de Freitas, began a round of conversations with truck drivers on April 22 – even before the end of the diesel tax reduction of taxes – to clarify the actions taken by the government in favor of the self-employed. Other meetings are planned, including with the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto.

Source: Gazeta do Povo

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