If you have been refreshing a tracking page this week, brace yourself: workers at Correios, Brazil's state-owned postal service, entered an open-ended national strike on Friday (11). The decision came out of union assemblies held on Thursday night (10), with unions from every state joining in. According to Findect, the federation that represents postal workers across the country, the stoppage began at 10 p.m. on Thursday.
The dealbreaker is the health plan. According to the federation, another round of talks on Thursday, mediated by the Superior Labor Court (TST), Brazil's top labor tribunal, ended without agreement because Correios management insists on changing its role as the plan's sponsor. Unions say the change could affect funding and coverage for workers, retirees and their families.
The salary side of the talks had actually moved forward: in a bulletin published on September 8, Findect said the company's latest offer included raises tracking 100% of the INPC, Brazil's official consumer price index, for two years. The health plan is what froze the whole negotiation.
We will not accept rights won over decades being put at risk. The health plan is the category's heritage and must be preserved.
That is from the official note signed by Findect and its affiliated unions, which sums up the mood this way: "the workers sought an agreement. Correios management chose intransigence. If the company does not step back, neither will the category". In a statement cited by g1, Globo's news portal, the federation added that the assemblies' decision comes "after successive rounds of negotiation and attempts at mediation" at the court.
So what changes for customers? According to Tony Sérgio, head of the postal workers' union in Paraíba state, only internal administrative services are running during the stoppage there. g1 reports there is no information yet on service levels in other regions, and that the company had not replied to a request for comment by publication time.
A strike inside a financial crisis
The stoppage lands on a company in deep trouble. Correios has posted losses for 15 consecutive quarters and lost R$ 5.6 billion in the first half of the year, according to g1. The second-quarter result was smaller than the previous two quarters, a sign of modest improvement. To shore up its finances, the company expects to close a new R$ 7 billion loan by September 15, from a consortium of Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Banrisul, after receiving R$ 12 billion at the end of 2025.
Where to follow: Findect posts strike bulletins on its website and social media channels, and g1 keeps updating its coverage. If you are waiting for a package, tracking is available on the Correios website and app; with the strike on, prepare your patience, because that "item in transit" status is likely to linger a little longer.