December 29, 2022

07:12

Iury Lima – from Amazon Agency

VILHENA (RO) – President of RBA Communication Group, politician and businessman Jader Barbalho Filho, confirmed by the MDB on Wednesday, 28, as a nominee for the Ministry of Cities, in the new Lula Government, is the target of controversy involving payment of salaries of journalists hired by the media conglomerate, which is headquartered in Belém, Pará.

The professionals have not received proper salaries for almost five years, according to a complaint by the Union of Journalists in the State (Sinjor-PA) endorsed by the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj). The entity recognises that in Pará, the minimum wage is defined by the companies and that there is no defined normative salary. On the other hand, points out that before the lag of values, “exceeding 30%”, the company “remains intransigent in the negotiation and offered only 8%”.

‘No right to the city’

In a note, Sinjor PA and Fenaj mention, by name, Jader Barbalho Filho, who besides being president of the MDB, in Pará, also presides RBA. The choice of him for the position of minister was received with fear by the two entities.

“Despite his intransigence in negotiating, Jader Filho was announced by the press as the future Minister of Cities, which caused us surprise and discomfort, due to the fight we have been fighting in recent years in defence of democracy and the rights of the category”, say the entities.

Both the union and the federation of press professionals stress that the journalists at RBA, as well as at the other media outlets in the state, need to be valued “to fully enjoy the spaces offered by the city”.

“Without decent salaries and decent working conditions, there is no right to the city. And there is no way to guarantee this right, having someone at the head who has made this access difficult for all the professionals of the RBA Group”, concludes the note.

The future Minister of Cities is the son of the senator of the Republic, from Pará, Jader Fontenelle Barbalho (MDB), who holds shareholding control of the media conglomerate.

No clarification

Sought by the report to comment on the case, Senator Jader Fontenelle Barbalho gave no clarification until the last update of this text. However, the political advisor confirmed receipt of the demand and promised positioning when possible.

AMAZON AGENCY could not locate the president of RBA Comunicação Group, Jader Barbalho Filho. Also contacted by email and telephone, the business group did not respond until the publication of this article.