Saúde Caixa: Employees demand immediate removal of 6.5% ceiling

In the latest negotiations with Caixa, held on Thursday (22), employee representatives once again demanded that the bank’s management remove the 6.5% restriction on salaries and profits to finance Saúde Caixa. The rule was implemented in 2017 and has since undermined the financial sustainability of the health plan and the maintenance of the 70/30 cost model.

“This Saúde Caixa financing model is a historic achievement for the bank’s employees. However, due to the 6.5% ceiling, in recent years Caixa has not been able to cover 70% of the costs as stipulated in the Saúde Caixa specific agreement valid until 2025. The ceiling must now be lowered, and we are once again reinforcing our demand at the negotiating table,” stressed Rafael de Castro, coordinator of the Employees’ Executive Committee (CEE/Caixa).

The ceiling also undermines the principles that guided the creation of the health plan in 2003: mutuality, solidarity and intergenerational pact. These principles ensure that each employee is paid according to his or her ability to contribute, and that none is excluded because of their age. Mutual support has also been created between age groups, so that everyone contributes reciprocally, ensuring access to health services at all times for everyone who needs them.

The 6.5% salary cap for Saúde Caixa’s funding was set in 2017, with the justification that the bank needed to increase actuarial provisions to highlight the company’s future obligations to so-called “post-employment benefits” (which, for Caixa employees, are mainly Funcef and Saúde Caixa), with the claim that it was to meet the requirements of the Central Bank.

Fenae president Sergio Takemoto recalls that after intense mobilization and negotiations with the government, the state-owned workers managed to repeal CGPAR 42 (Decision of the Ministerial Committee for Corporate Governance and Management of Corporate Interests of the Federation), which restricted up to 50% of state-owned companies’ funding to their workers’ health plans.

“This was a very important victory and the new decision stipulates that public companies’ participation in financing plans can reach 70% of the expenses. We must remove the 6.5% cap from the basic system and ensure a high-quality health plan for everyone,” Takemoto stressed.

source: Vinay