BRASILIA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A confederation of Brazilian civil servants, which had been on strike since June, Tuesday accepted a proposed 15.8-percent salary increase over the next three years.

At an assembly held in the Brazilian capital Brasilia, the Confederation of Federal Public Sector Workers (Condsef) agreed to the proposal offered by President Dilma Rousseff's government, which applies to 17 types of civil servants, but the offer still needs to be endorsed by state assemblies scheduled to take place at next weekend.

Condsef delegates said at the assembly that they won a victory by showing the strength of labor and how unified the unions were, though the government's plan was not enough to make up for inflation and other factors that eroded their pay's real value.

Several delegates leveled harsh criticism against the Brazilian government for granting private companies fiscal benefits and financial stimulus, including the recently announced concessions to the construction sector.

If the proposal gets passed, nearly 300,000 public employees would go back to work in the next few days, not including those who have not agreed to the proposal, such as the federal police.

Condsef represents 80 percent of public sector employees working in the government, while some others must negotiate separately, including those working at Brazil's National Agrarian Reform Institute (INCRA).

The government had threatened to dock striking workers for missing workdays before the deal was proposed, but as part of the deal, employees would not face a pay cut if they agree to present a schedule to make up for the loss caused by their strike. Enditem

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