Federation presents new proposal for port workers pension fund

Portus participants are workers from dock companies such as the Port Authority of Santos (Vanessa Rodrigues/ AT)

The National Federation of Port Workers (FNP), together with representative entities of the category, has submitted a counterproposal for the new restructuring of Portus - Institute of Social Security, the supplemental pension fund for dock company employees (port authorities). The document was submitted on Monday (5th) to the Federal Public Administration Mediation and Conciliation Chamber (CCAF), under the direction of José Roberto da Cunha Peixoto. It is part of the General Federal Counsel (CGU), which is a higher body of the Attorney General's Office (AGU).

“This counterproposal will certainly go through changes and developments. Once it returns and if there is something more concrete where we understand that further progress is not possible, we will need to approve or reject it in assemblies across Brazil. But before that, we will discuss it with the category, present it in detail, and address any questions. We are acting with great reasonableness and responsibility because this pension fund issue is both the present and future for many families”, explains FNP President Sérgio Giannetto.

To provide some context, 52% of the plan’s beneficiaries and participants are associated with the Port of Santos - as of October last year, there were 2,367 beneficiaries, including 135 active and 2,232 retired. The remaining 48% correspond to other port complexes, with Rio de Janeiro in second place, accounting for about 26%.

“The Government will assess whether it can meet the presented requests, and the matter should be discussed at the CCAF,” says Cleiton Leal Dias Júnior, lawyer for the Port Administration Employees Union (Sindaport). “We want a decision by the end of this month: either they accept or make a counterproposal”, adds Sindaport President Everandy Cirino dos Santos.

The counterproposal The counterproposal includes seven points addressed in the sponsors' (dock companies) proposal: a 12.81% adjustment on current benefit values (with retroactive effect from April 2024), the return of annual benefit adjustments based on the INPC (National Consumer Price Index) accumulated over the past 12 months (starting January 2025), the return of death benefits, payment of death benefits to beneficiaries of participants and retirees who passed away between the implementation of the 2020 agreement and the signing of the new agreement, the return of the annual bonus, payment of the 2020 annual bonus to beneficiaries, and a linear reduction in the extraordinary contribution rate from 18.47% to 15.59%.

“We believe it is possible to advance further in negotiations, considering that the 12.81% adjustment and the reduction in the extraordinary contribution to 15.59% still result in a significant financial loss for the beneficiaries compared to the originally contracted rules”, explains Giannetto in the document.

There are 13 new requests from the FNP and entities, with only four having a financial impact or affecting the sponsors' cash flow: recognition of the joint responsibility of the sponsors for the extraordinary contributions of pensioners; a new TCF (Terms of Financial Commitment) that should provide an initial contribution of 30% of the debt, with the remaining balance to be paid over 12 years and bringing additional guarantees to prevent potential default; adjustment of the TCF debt balance by the same rate applied to loans; and an increase in the employer's contribution to cover extraordinary contributions, benefiting the sponsor with nearly half of the new amount contributed.

Meeting Also on Monday, an online meeting was held to discuss the matter with the National Secretary of Ports, Alex Sandro de Ávila, and two executives from the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) (Fábio Lavor Teixeira and Otto Luiz Burlier da Silveira Filho, the latter being an advisor to the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, in coordination and strategic project management). Besides Giannetto, Dias Júnior, and Cirino, other participants included the President of the Portus Santos Participants Association, Jurandir França da Hora, directors from the ports of Vitória and Bahia, and the President of PortosRio, Francisco Martins, among others.

About The Portus Institute of Social Security is a closed entity, created in 1979 by the defunct Portobras, which at the time was responsible for the administration of Brazilian ports. Portus was established to provide port workers with additional pension benefits. Problems with Portus began in 1990 with the dissolution of Portobras. Since August 2011, the institute has been under federal intervention.