Rio Branco teachers and staff strike over wages and school safety

On Wednesday, 20 May, teachers, assistants and support staff of Rio Branco's municipal education network began an indefinite strike after the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Educação do Acre (Sinteac) ordered a walk‑out. Protesters set up a camp in Praça da Revolução opposite the city hall and blocked Rua Rui Barbosa, disrupting traffic and halting classes in elementary schools, creches and other municipal institutions.

The union demands a 15.67% salary increase for teachers, later reduced to a 10% request, while the municipality has offered a 5% rise. Current salaries for teachers range from R$ 1,400 to R$ 1,600, below the national minimum wage. The strike also calls for a new salary table for staff, the creation of a school secretary position, inclusion of workers in the democratic management law, and concrete security plans for schools. Sinteac president Rosana Nascimento said the decision to end the strike rests with Mayor Alysson Bestene, who has presented a proposal to raise the minimum salary to R$ 1,621 with a 5% premium for high‑school staff, citing fiscal limits. Some support staff have accepted the offer, but the majority of the education workforce continues the protest.