PG 203 anos: SIEMACO, the force of those who build the city every day
SIEMACO Ponta Grossa has been defending workers' rights, professional qualification and assistance to workers in 42 cities of Paraná since 1997.
The development of Ponta Grossa can also be told by the history of its workers. As the city grew, received new companies, expanded public and private services and consolidated as a regional hub, thousands of professionals began to perform essential functions for this gear to continue working. It is in this scenario that the trajectory of SIEMACO Ponta Grossa is inserted, founded in 1997 by Maria Donizeti Teixeira Alves, who remains at the head of the entity.
The story of Maria Donizeti, however, began earlier. The movement that gave rise to the organization of the category in Paraná was born from the mobilization of working women in the sanitation and conservation sector. From this struggle emerged structures capable of transforming claims into conquests and giving voice to professionals often little perceived, but indispensable to the daily life of the cities.
Under the management of Maria Donizeti, SIEMACO Ponta Grossa has consolidated an action that goes beyond salary negotiation. Salary floor, food aid, defense of working conditions and preservation of rights go hand in hand with legal assistance, medical and dental care and professional qualification programs. The union offers more than 60 courses and maintains the Institute of Worker Health, in operation in Ponta Grossa since 2014.
This presence reaches far beyond the municipality. The territorial base of the SIEMACO Ponta Grossa brings together 42 cities in Paraná, strengthening workers from all over the region. In the last assembly of the wage campaign, about a thousand workers participated in the meeting, demonstrating the capacity for mobilization built over the years.
The social performance also gained recognition: SIEMACO and the Institute of Worker Health received the Social Seal, highlighting practices of responsibility with the community.
Thus, the trajectory led by Maria Donizeti follows the very transformation of Ponta Grossa. Because a city does not develop only with investments, industries, buildings and technology. It is developed, above all, by the hands of the people who work — and by ensuring that these hands are respected, protected and valued.
SIEMACO PONTA GROSSA article for the book: "PONTA GROSSA: From the Route of the Tropeiros to the Tracks of Innovation"
Read the other articles of the book here!
