The Superior Labour Court (TST) on Tuesday affirmed key terms of the 2024/2025 Collective Labour Agreement for Brazil’s postal workers, recognised the legality of the national strike that began in December and ordered a 5.10% salary adjustment. The increase, roughly in line with inflation over the period, will also apply to meal allowances.
Brazil Correios wage increase upheld by labour court
The ruling preserves most clauses from the previous agreement and requires striking days to be deducted in three proportional monthly instalments, which may affect a range of salary-related payments depending on each worker’s situation. Workers are due to return to their posts on Wednesday.
During the hearing, the Public Labour Prosecutor’s Office supported the strike as legitimate. The rapporteur, Minister Kátia Magalhães Arruda, said the employer’s offer represented a broad rollback of economic clauses without fair compensation. Her position was followed by the majority of judges in the specialised collective disputes panel.
Union leaders presented the ruling as a vindication of sustained mobilisation. Suzy Cristiny, president of the postal workers’ union in Acre, said the decision recognised the right to inflation replacement and kept contractual protections. “It was a long and difficult campaign, with the company proposing cuts and restrictions that would have weakened unions for two years. The TST decision was fair and a victory for the struggle,” she said.
The national strike began on 17 December after five months of stalled talks between the Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos (ECT) and unions. The state-owned company had proposed a salary freeze, changes to its health plan, benefit reductions and limits on union release time. Most assemblies rejected the terms.
Representatives of ECT argued that fulfilling the unions’ economic demands would jeopardise the company’s financial health. They pointed to intense competition from private couriers and marketplaces, and said management constraints had hindered performance. Worker representatives countered that labour rights should not be the price of corporate adjustment.
The ruling arrives as the postal operator advances a restructuring plan that pledges to close about 1,000 loss-making branches, offer voluntary departure packages to up to 15,000 employees and sell surplus property. The company has secured R$12 billion in credit and pledged R$4.4 billion for modernisation by 2030.
Correios reported cumulative losses of R$6.1 billion to September 2025 and has seen a significant erosion of market share in small international parcels. While management frames the measures as necessary to modernise and diversify revenue, unions fear the plan may deepen the company’s weakening and threaten its public-service mandate.
Labour leaders emphasised the broader stakes for universal postal coverage and the role of Correios as an essential public service with presence in every municipality. The TST decision secures short-term relief for workers and maintains contractual protections, but it leaves open questions about how the company will reconcile fiscal restructuring with its service obligations and workforce stability.
Observers say the case highlights the tension between fiscal recovery and social protections in state firms. For now, workers claim a clear victory after a protracted negotiation and a strike that the court recognised as lawful.
Key Takeaways:
- TST upheld the previous Collective Labour Agreement and recognised the December strike as legal, granting a 5.10% salary adjustment.
- The 5.10% index will apply to salaries and meal allowances; strike days will be deducted in three proportional monthly instalments.
- Workers and unions view the ruling as a victory after failed negotiations and proposed cuts by ECT; the Ministry of Labour prosecutor defended the strike.
- Decision comes amid a Correios restructuring plan that includes agency closures, voluntary redundancies and a R$12bn credit line.
