Between affirmed and denied rights: the struggle of teachers for the national minimum monthly salary on a 20-hour week basis in Campo Grande, MS

ABSTRACT The paper examines the struggle of the teachers of the municipal education system of Campo Grande, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, to be paid the full value of the National Minimum Monthly Salary for Teachers (Piso Salarial Profissional Nacional, PSPN), established by Law n. 11,738/2008. The sources consulted included education-related legislation and documents, local press articles, and documents and material published by the teachers union. In the municipal context, the teachers demanded, as an innovation, to be paid the PSPN on a 20-hour week basis. In the municipality, during the analyzed period, under each mayor’s administration, a new law on the matter was passed. The rights were thus guaranteed by legislation, but not complied with. The process was marked by complex developments involving the teachers union, culminating in the largest teacher strike ever held in the municipality, when the educational state acted to maintain the status quo at the local level by using both the local press and the judicial system. The fact that the teachers did not succeed in their demands reveals fissures in the Brazilian cooperative federalism, since local governments, as in this case, prevented teacher remuneration (Law n. 11,738/2008) from becoming part of the federative coordination policies designed to lower regional asymmetries and contribute to reducing social inequalities.