After less than 24 hours, the strike at Banco do Brasil, the state-controlled bank, came to an end across most of the country. In union assemblies on Friday (11), most of the regional unions approved a deal with management, and branches are expected to return to normal service in the regions that accepted it. At Caixa Econômica Federal, the federal government-owned savings bank, the national stoppage that began on Thursday (10) still has no end date.
What the Banco do Brasil deal includes
The deal puts the PLR, Brazil's annual profit-sharing payment tied to the bank's results, in workers' accounts within 72 hours of its signature by all unions. It also grants a one-off payment of R$ 3,000, nearly two thirds of a R$ 5,000 monthly salary, to the group defined in the bank's 2026 debt-collection campaign, plus 35 days of paternity leave, career-plan advances and paid time for a stoppage held on August 20. In Belo Horizonte, the proposal passed with 64.7% of the votes, two of every three participants, according to the local bank workers' union.
Understand: bank employees in Brazil negotiate on two levels. The CCT, the national convention signed on Wednesday (9) between Fenaban, the federation representing the banks, and 245 unions, covers about 414,000 workers at 171 banks through August 31, 2028. The ACT is the separate agreement each bank, including Banco do Brasil, negotiates with its own staff, and every regional union votes alone on accepting it or staying on strike.
The CCT fully replaces inflation as measured by the INPC, the index used for salary adjustments in Brazil, and adds a real gain of 0.6 percentage points in 2026 and 2027. With the INPC at 3.98% over 12 months, according to the national statistics agency IBGE, the total raise comes close to 4.6%: on a R$ 5,000 salary, the difference between simply matching inflation and the agreed deal is about R$ 30 a month. The adjustment also applies to meal vouchers, allowances and profit sharing, and the convention adds rules on mental health, harassment and the right to disconnect outside working hours.
The deal did not pass everywhere at Banco do Brasil. According to G1, about 18 unions rejected the proposal and remain on strike, including Angra dos Reis and bases in Bahia; in the first round of assemblies, 60 entities had voted no, among them Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, which changed position in less than a day. "The result was the fruit of a negotiation cycle marked by the participation and mobilization of the workers," said Fernanda Lopes, coordinator of the CEBB, the bank's employees' commission.
Why Caixa workers stay out
At Caixa, more than 90% of the regional unions, nine in ten, rejected the bank's offer for renewing its specific agreement on the eve of the strike, and the central dispute is Saúde Caixa, the employees' health plan. The bank presented a final proposal on Friday: payment of the adjusted salary, the profit sharing and a R$ 3,000 bonus on September 18, plus a rise in its funding cap for the plan from 6.5% to 8%. According to Folhapress, Caixa threatened to take the dispute to the labor court if there is no agreement.
The unions want the funding cap scrapped, a return to the historic split of 70% paid by the bank and 30% by beneficiaries, and an end to charges based on age. In a statement, Caixa said it keeps "the dialogue open" with employee representatives. While branches stay shut, both banks are telling customers to use apps, online banking, ATMs, lottery agents and banking correspondents.