By Akracia – Fenikso Nigra
Since February 23, 2026, technical-administrative staff at 29 federal universities and institutes have halted activities. The strike didn’t begin now. It began when the government failed to fulfill an agreement signed in 2024. When it approved a budget that cuts 488 million reais from universities while raising parliamentary amendments to 61 billion reais.
The numbers reveal priorities.
The discretionary budget of 69 federal universities fell from 6.89 billion reais to 6.43 billion reais. A seven percent drop in nominal values. A larger drop in real terms, considering inflation. Resources for electricity, water, cleaning, security, scholarships for low-income students. Basic functioning compromised.
Meanwhile, parliamentary amendments jumped from 48 billion reais in 2025 to 61 billion reais in 2026. Growth of 13 billion reais in an election year is not coincidence. It’s strategy. Money that could finance public education becomes political bargaining chip.
Workers’ demands are concrete. Fulfillment of the 2024 strike agreement, which foresaw 30-hour weekly workload, recognition of knowledge and skills, replacement of retirees and pensioners. None of this was implemented. Some points were actively distorted in Bill 6170/2025, approved by the Chamber.
This bill imposes serious restrictions. It prohibits skills recognition for those in probationary period. Limits to 75% of active staff the possibility of progression. Excludes retirees, pensioners and those with doctorates. Requires three years between subsequent applications. Financial effects don’t backdate to application date.
The government presented the bill as career restructuring. The category sees attack on agreed rights. The Federation of Unions classified it as “government and Chamber steamroller against workers.” Strong language reflects frustration with systematic non-compliance with agreements.
The strike exposes structural contradiction. Public universities produce knowledge, train professionals, meet social demands. But they increasingly depend on parliamentary amendments, agreements and private partnerships to function. University autonomy erodes when basic budget doesn’t cover essential expenses.
Parliamentary amendments aren’t neutral. They’re directed according to political interests of those proposing them. A deputy directing an amendment to a university in their electoral base demands political return. A rector depending on these amendments negotiates from weakened position. Teaching, research and extension become hostages of electoral bargaining.
Historical comparison is frightening. In 2014, resources for ordinary expenses of federal universities corresponded to 100%. In 2026, they correspond to approximately 45%. Reduction of more than half in little over a decade. It wasn’t accident. It was deliberate disinvestment policy.
Consequences are known. National Museum fire in 2018 resulted from years of deterioration. Precarious electrical installations, lack of basic maintenance, insufficient budget. Fire destroyed irreplaceable collection. National memory lost to penny-pinching.
Striking workers don’t ask for privileges. They ask for fulfillment of already signed agreements. Category salaries are among the lowest in the Federal Executive. ASSUFRGS survey demonstrates education workers continue with lowest pay among federal servants of equivalent level.
Mobilization isn’t uniform. Of consulted universities, 29 approved strike, 15 voted against, five didn’t deliberate. Division reflects uncertainties about strategic moment. Electoral year brings legal restrictions but also pressure on government sensitive to political wear.
International experiences show different university funding models. Nordic countries guarantee robust public budget to universities, calculated based on enrollments and academic performance indicators, not annual political negotiations. Chile, after decades of privatization, saw massive student movements conquer progressive gratuity through direct mobilization.
In Brazil, the 2000s saw significant expansion of federal universities. New institutions were created, higher education moved inland, places expanded. But expansion didn’t come with guaranteed sustainable financing. When political will changed, universities became vulnerable.
The strike poses central question: is public university priority investment or adjustable expense according to convenience? When education competes with electoral parliamentary amendments, answer becomes clear. Universities lose.
Alternatives exist. Linking minimum percentage of federal budget to higher education, as occurs with basic education. Creating specific funds shielded from contingency. Establishing multi-year funding allowing planning beyond electoral cycles. All this is technically viable.
It doesn’t happen by political choice. Governments prefer keeping universities dependent on annual negotiations. Allows control, rewards allies, punishes opponents. University autonomy exists on paper, dies in practice when money for electricity depends on deputy’s amendment.
Striking workers defend not just salaries. They defend university model. Public, free, autonomous, socially relevant. Against model that transforms education into electoral bargain, knowledge into commodity, autonomy into subordination.
The choice is clear: adequately funded universities as state policy, or universities hostage to political negotiations year by year.
Between education as right and education as bargaining chip, no neutrality is possible.
In struggle we continue—dignified, free, and untamable.
