Brazilian bankers call for strikes as salary negotiations stall

Negotiations for the 2026 National Unified Campaign for Brazilian bankers have reached a stalemate. During the seventh round of talks in São Paulo, the Federation of Banks (Fenaban) failed to present specific salary adjustment indices, instead proposing a freeze on entry-level pay and differentiated adjustments across three salary tiers without defining the specific percentages.

Labor representatives, led by the Comando Nacional dos Bancários, have criticized the proposal, noting that the banking sector reported R$ 174 billion in profit last year. The union is demanding real wage increases, improvements to profit-sharing (PLR) and meal vouchers, and measures to combat mental health issues caused by aggressive goal management. Fenaban also suggested reducing meal and food vouchers in smaller cities where costs are lower, a move union leaders claim unfairly redistributes benefits from some workers to others.

Specific institutional negotiations continue. At Santander, management denied requests for mobility allowances and various professional qualification subsidies. Meanwhile, workers at Banco do Brasil are awaiting concrete responses regarding salary floors, benefits, and the maintenance of physical branches and cashiers.