Without a salary, school support professionals stop and more than 20 schools are affected in Ribeirão Preto, SP

A group of school support professionals protested this Tuesday morning (10), in front of Ribeirão Preto City Hall (SP), against the delay in paying salaries.

The workers are hired by the company Soluções and work in municipal schools. According to the group, this is the second consecutive month of delay. Last month's salary was paid after the deadline and this month's salary had not yet been deposited by the end of this Tuesday morning.

At the end of the morning, Mayor Ricardo Silva (PSD) received the professionals at his office to talk about the situation. They have stopped their activities and say they do not intend to return to work until payment is regularized.

According to City Hall, the strike affects more than 20 municipal schools. The municipality states that the payments to Soluções are up to date and that the company was notified and fined.

The Municipal Department of Education had given a deadline of 10am this Tuesday for Soluções to regularize all payments and present receipts. The deadline ended without salaries being deposited.

g1 contacted Soluções to find out when salaries will be paid and to question the employees' complaints, but did not receive a response until the last update of this report.

Second month late

In an interview with g1, school support professional Jéssica Priscila de Camargo said that the workers tried to contact the company via messages, but did not receive explanations or a payment forecast.

"It's desperate to work, fulfill our obligations and get to payday without getting paid or even having any satisfaction. We feel abandoned, without knowing who to turn to and without any security about when we will get paid."

According to Jéssica, the group worked normally until Friday (6). On Monday (9), some of the professionals attended schools, but left the units at lunch time because their salaries had not yet been deposited. This Tuesday, they decided to stop activities.

Jéssica has been working as a school support professional for nine months. A solo mother of a 5-year-old girl, she states that the delay has already compromised the payment of rent, her daughter's school fees and water and energy bills.

"I live on rent, I'm a single mother and I have a 5-year-old daughter. The rent is late, as is school, water and electricity bills. I also don't have the resources to go to work."

Professionals also report delays in deposits from the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS). According to them, the last payment available for consultation is for August.

In a letter sent to the mayor, the group asks the City Hall to monitor compliance with the contract and review the working hours, working conditions and remuneration for the role.

“We are not asking for privileges, but respect, dignity and professional appreciation”, says the document.

More than 20 schools affected

School support professionals help children from the municipal network with eating, hygiene and other routine activities in the units. The Department of Education reported that it is monitoring the situation and looking for alternatives to maintain student services.

The city says it notified the company three times. One of the notifications established a deadline of 6pm on Monday (9) for payment. As the determination was not complied with, Soluções was fined and received a new deadline, until 10 am this Tuesday, which was also failed.

According to City Hall, the company initially justified the delay by claiming that it had not considered Saturday as a business day when calculating the payment deadline. The municipality states that labor standards include Saturday in this count.

The Department of Education reported that it adopts other administrative and contractual measures to require compliance with obligations and normalize the provision of the service.