Brazil

On 10 February 2021, employees of the Bank of Brazil held a 24-hour strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike against the closure of branches, the withdrawal of employee rights and mass layoffs. A group of 200 workers even closed Banco do Brazil’s headquarters. The bank’s management called the military police, who used gas bombs and pepper spray to evacuate the premises. Despite the repression, approximately 60% of bank workers took part in the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action, according to the Union of Bank Workers of Brasilia.

A strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike of public sanitation workers in Florianópolis ended on 1 February 2021 with an agreement signed between the city hall and the union to suspend the opening of administrative proceedings and dismissals. However, the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina has continued the investigation of the union’s responsibility for non-compliance with the decision of the Court of Justice that declared the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike illegal. The Public Ministry alleges that the movement caused collective damage to society in what is considered by the union an attempt to interfere directly with the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

In February 2021, the authorities of the State of São Paulo intimidated the education workers who were on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The threats occurred through threats of contract termination for teachers or even dismissal from their positions.

In February 2021, oil workers went on a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike that lasted for more than 20 days. It was the largest strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike of oil workers since 1995. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike continued despite a decision by the Superior Labour Court (TST). Judge Ives Gandra determined the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to be illegal and ordered the action to be immediately suspended. More than 120 units of the Petrobras system were affected by the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , in 13 Brazilian states and with the participation of 21 thousand workers. The oil workers were fighting against mass layoffs, for the fulfillment of the collective agreement, for the reduction of fuel prices and against the privatisation of Petrobras.

Trade unionist João Inácio da Silva was killed while sitting in front of his house in Parauapebas, Pará, on 6 November 2020. He was president of the Montes Belos Workers’ Cooperative. According to family members, he had been receiving death threats for some time. These threats ended in a shooting attack perpetrated by two motorcyclists. João Inácio da Silva was known and respected for helping family farm workers to win land rights from the National Institute for Colonisation and Agrarian Reform.

In September 2020, the company Nestle refused to pay its dues to the labour rights of workers. The Swiss company refused to pay the Profit Sharing (PLR), as agreed in a collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement, and also proposed to reduce a food allowance benefit by 48.6%, from R$680 to R$350. According to the president of the Union of Food Workers of Espírito Santo (Sindialimentação-ES), Linda Morais, the company also sought to reduce the salary floor, but backed down after pressure from workers. In a similar situation, the workers in Bahia under the Union of Workers in the Food and Related Industries of the State of Bahia (Sindialimentação-BA) have made a series of demands on Nestle to guarantee their rights.

In September 2020, the majority of judges of the Superior Labour Court (TST) ruled in favour of the Post Office company and against the rights of male and female workers and withdrew 50 of the 79 benefits present in the previous Collective Labour Agreements (ACT). With this decision the workers lost 40% of their remuneration in the form of benefits. Among the benefits lost are a 180-day maternity leave, daycare assistance, assistance for children with special needs, a 30% risk premium, a night shift premium and overtime. The TST also ordered postal workers to end their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike under penalty of a fine of R$100 thousand per day.

On 23 July 2020, trade unionist Hamilton Dias de Moura, president of the Union of Drivers and Employees in Companies of Freight Transportation, Logistics in Transportation and Differentiated of Belo Horizonte and Region (Simeclodif), was murdered. Moura’s body was found with several bullet holes in the passenger seat of his own car in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. In the context of Mr Moura’s historic leadership in the union movement, the murder is considered to be a politically motivated crime.

In July 2020, the São Paulo state government ignored the proposals of the Union of Subway Workers and even the Regional Labour Court, which tried to mediate an agreement. Instead, Governor João Doria applied wage cuts and a reduction of rights in the June payroll, thus attacking the sector’s collective agreement. In four negotiation meetings held, the Subway Company did not concede on any point and maintained the reduction of workers’ overtime bonus from 100% to 50% as well as of the night bonus from 50% to 20%. The new agreement also eliminated the transport aid and the life risk benefit for ticket office operators and security guards, reduced the holiday bonus from 70% of the effective salary to 33%, and the company’s contribution to the workers’ health plan from 84% to 70% of the monthly fee.

Brazilian trade union leaders continue to report death threats and intimidation due to their work.
The coordinator of the Union of Technical-Administrative Workers of UFRGS, UFCSPA and IFRS (ASSUFRGS), Tamyres Filgueira, began receiving death threats after releasing a video showing her participation in a demonstration for democracy on 17 May 2020 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. The leaders of the Oil Workers Union of São José dos Campos and Region received death threats in May 2020 after they started a campaign in defense of social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Brazil.
On 20 November 2020, the president of the Road Workers Union, Aldo Lima, received death threats and suffered an intimidation attempt in front of the entity’s headquarters. Mr. Lima attributes the threats to retaliation against the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike actions approved during an assembly meeting on 17 November by the Union of Road Transport Workers of Recife and Metropolitan Region.

President Bolsonaro’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated harmful conditions for workers. Unions claim that the president has denied the gravity of the pandemic and promoted public confusion. Even more seriously, they claim that he has imposed measures to protect the business community and the wealthy at the cost of workers’ rights.
On 22 March 2020, President Jair Bolsonaro issued a controversial Provisional Executive Order 927 that designates COVID-19 as a “force majeure”, allowing companies to adopt protections favouring themselves over workers. Although the president has since repealed one of the most controversial elements of the order, one that permitted the suspension of employment contracts without the payment of salaries for up to four months, other measures remain. For example, Order 927 permits the reduction of salaries by up to 25% without a reduction in working hours. It also establishes a “labour law exception”, which excuses employers from workplace accident liability in the event that their employees become infected with COVID-19, except when a causal link can be proven by the employee.
The government subsequently enacted a new Provisional Executive Order 936 that establishes criteria for the reduction of working hours and allows for up to 70% reduction in the salaries, without requirements for collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

The Federation of Rural Workers and Family Farmers of the State of Pará (FETAGRI-PA) reported with regret the brutal murder of trade unionist Paulo Silva Filho, who lived and worked in Ourilândia do Norte in Pará state, on 28 February 2020. Initial investigations indicate that comrade Paulinho was yet another victim of the violence in the countryside that has been a consistent problem in the state of Pará for many years. Paulo Silva Filho, or popularly known as Paulinho do PT, was a well-recognised union leader linked to FETAGRI-PA in the municipality of Ourilândia do Norte.

The president of Sindicam (Sindicato dos Transportadores Rodoviários Autônomos de Bens da Baixada Santista e Vale do Ribeira), Alexsandro Viviani, known as “the Italian”, who was leading the truckers’ strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in the port of Santos, was arrested by military police, which violently repressed the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The repression was disproportionate and unjustified, as the union members were holding a peaceful protest and were simply trying to convince their colleagues to join the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

The FUP, part of CNQ/CUT, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union, launched the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 1 February, campaigning for the 396 direct employees and 600 subcontracted workers who will be affected by the plant closure. Layoffs were expected to start on 14 February.

According to the union, the mass layoffs violate the collective agreement signed in November 2019. In the agreement, Petrobras agreed to no mass layoffs for five years without prior consultation with the unions. The announced dismissals at the fertilizer plant came without first discussing alternatives with the union.

FUP says that the fertilizer plant is not the only Petrobras unit experiencing difficulties, and there have been layoffs and mass transfers of employees across the Petrobras system, which includes subsidiaries and privately owned companies connected to Petrobas.

President Jair Bolsonaro’s government supports the privatisation of Petrobras. Over five years, the oil company has cut its investments in Brazil by 50 per cent, resulting in the loss of 270,000 direct and subcontracted jobs.

Workers from more than 30 Petrobas units have come together for the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . Various campaigns are run across the twelve Brazilian states in which the oil company operates.

On 4 February, Brazil’s employment court ruled that if the workers continue to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , large unions with more than 2,000 members, like FUP, would be fined 500,000 reales (US$116,000), while smaller unions would be fined 250,000 (US$58,000) reales.

The ruling also required 90 per cent of the Petrobas workforce to return to work. The FUP announced that it would continue the indefinite strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , and that support from the national federation of oil workers (FNP) helped to increase the scope of the action.

An assembly held by teachers’ union CPERS (Sindicato dos Professores do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul) in Plaza Matriz, on 26 November, was brutally quashed by the anti-riot forces of the Military Brigade. The repression took place after education workers approved a decision to extend the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action initiated on 18 November and just as the union’s strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike committee was waiting to be received by Otomar Vivian, chief secretary of the Rio Grande do Sul state government. The assembly had begun at around 1.30 p.m., with thousands of people gathering around the Piratini Palace and Plaza Matriz. According to the leaders of the union, between 15,000 and 20,000 people took part in the event.

The Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) issued a warrant for the arrest of João Luiz Pereira Rodrigues, leader of SIND-DEGASE (Sindicato dos Servidores da Carreira Socioeducativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro), if the sector-wide strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike launched on Tuesday 5 November was not ended within 24 hours.

Embraer workers in São José dos Campos suspended their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike over pay increases on Tuesday 25 September as a result of the intimidatory and repressive measures taken by the authorities. SINDMETALSJC (Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos de São José dos Campos) said it had decided to suspend the action due to the strong police presence in front of the plant. According to the union, “Military and anti-riot police officers lined up to form a barricade, to intimidate the workers and force them back into the factory.” Photographic images show union leaders Alex da Silva Gomes and Herbert Claros stood in front of the main door at Embraer and being truncheoned by the military police.

Petrobras announced that it would hold individual negotiations with each worker in light of the deadlock in the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
negotiations between the oil unions and the management at the company. Union members see this potential measure, set out in the labour reform, as a way of undermining collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. The director of corporate affairs at Petrobras, Eberaldo de Almeida Neto, stated in a video that the company will not make a new proposal in the collective negotiations and, if no progress is made in the mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation at the Superior Labour Court, it will turn to the options set out in the labour reform of the Consolidated Labour Laws (CLT). This means that the benefits established in the collective agreement, such as additional leave with full pay, will be lost.

Just days after the car of the president of Sindicato dos Rodoviários do Amapá was set alight, the vice president, Genival Cruz, was the target of death threats. The first was a phone call at about 3 p.m., in which a man stated that Genival would not be alive the next day. The same threat was repeated in a text message. Genival informed the trade union centres, which launched a nationwide campaign to denounce the threats and referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice, but the case was never resolved.

Brazil police fired tear gas at demonstrators on 31 May after parts of Rio de Janeiro were paralysed when unions kicked off a 24-hour strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to protest against a government proposal to reform pensions and a freeze in education spending.

The pension reforms, aimed at restoring public finances and reviving a flagging economy, are fiercely opposed by some sectors of society for raising the minimum retirement age and workers’ contributions.

In Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, public transport was disrupted as subway workers adhered to the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , affecting train schedules and closing some stations.

As well as seeking to block changes in public sector pensions, protesters gathered in cities across Brazil to rally against education spending freezes in demonstrations against Bolsonaro.

The president of the rural workers’ union, SRT (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais), in Rio Maria, in the southeast of Pará state, was shot dead on the afternoon of 11 June in the city where he was working as a union leader. The police reported that two men on a motorcycle approached and shot at Carlos Cabral Pereira, who was hit by four bullets, one to the head. The leader was taken to the municipal hospital but died before he was able to receive medical attention. According to information from the CUT (Central Única dos Trabalhadores), the attack took place near his home, in the Planalto district.

Workers at Tenaris Confab in Brazil began strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action on 20 May after the steel-pipe producer fired 25 workers. As a result, the company reversed the dismissals a day later and agreed to negotiate with the union on the workers’ future.

Workers from both the morning and afternoon shifts took part in the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , leading to a complete shutdown of the firm’s production line on 21 May. The workers are members of the Union of Metalworkers of Pindamonhangaba, Moreira Cesar and Roseira, which is affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union through the national confederation of metalworkers (CNM-CUT).

Following the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , Tenaris management agreed to negotiate an alternative for the dismissed workers, as well as 200 workers in the production sector they say they no longer need. It is possible that Tenaris will seek to bring in some kind of voluntary redundancy plan.

The union also says that five of the 25 workers who were fired on 17 May had been injured as a result of workplace safety issues and their dismissals were irregular. The company initially said that it would not negotiate any alternatives with the union, prompting members to go on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

The union asserted the layoffs were not the only option and said it would do whatever it could to safeguard the workers’ rights and find an alternative.

In November 2018, the firm announced that it would potentially have to dismiss large numbers of workers. The union then threatened to hold a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and managed to negotiate temporary layoffs for 165 workers.

The municipal workers’ union of Toledo, SERTOLEDO (Sindicato dos Servidores Públicos Municipais de Toledo), in Paraná, issued a statement denouncing the death threats its general secretary, Marlene da Silva, had been receiving for some 90 days and which were exclusively linked to her activities as a trade unionist.

National trade union centrals and federations joined with the Brazilian regional office of global union federation Public Services International (PSI) to file a complaint against the Brazilian government at the Brazilian office of the International Labour Organization International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights (ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights ) on Wednesday 12 December. The entities accuse the Brazilian State of violating ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Convention 151 (Labour Relations - Public Service Convention, 1978) which guarantees, among other things, the right to collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
in the public sector.
This right is systematically violated despite Brazil’s National Congress having ratified Convention 151 in 2010. Brazil does not apply the Convention, using the argument that it is necessary to create a specific law that regulates collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
for public servants in the domestic legal system.
According to the complaint filed at the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , meetings between the government and trade union organisations have taken place without major advances. Obstacles are always imposed to justify the failure to meet the demands of public sector workers, such as the need for superior agency authorisation and restrictions imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Law.
The complaint also points out that generally, “governments unilaterally impose working conditions while remaining paralysed when it comes to dialogue and effective negotiation”. Even after having rejected proposals from trade unions, government sends them along to the respective legislative bodies, forcing public sector workers to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

In addition, the complaint’s signatories indicate that in 2017 the National Congress approved Bill 3.831 / 2015, which establishes general norms for collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
in public administration. Sent for approval, the proposal was vetoed by President Michel Temer in December of the same year despite extensive social and legislative consultation around the text. The veto was maintained by the Chamber of Deputies in April 2018, definitively shelving the regulation of Convention 151.

In July 2017, the Brazilian government adopted Law 13.467, which introduced regressive amendments to the Labour Code that are in clear violation of ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Convention 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. The stated goal of the reform was to increase flexibility, reduce unemployment and regularise the informal economy in an overall context of economic recession. However, far from improving the situation of workers, Law 13.467 has already produced negative impact.
The reform has not only failed to create the promised jobs, but it has actually resulted in higher rates of unemployment. The first three months of the new regime had seen a nearly 3,000 per cent increase in the number of stable employment relationships dissolved, mostly concerning low-wage positions. When the law came into force, the unemployment rate stood at 12.2 per cent. By April 2018, however, according to data from the Official Institute of the Brazilian State (IBGE), it was 13.1 per cent, equivalent to 13.7 million people out of work. If that figure were combined with the number of “desalentados” (potential workers who had stopped looking for work, 7.8 million) and the number of people underemployed (6.2 million), it would give a staggering total of 27.7 million Brazilians outside the labour market. They represent 24.7 per cent of the economically active population.
The legislative changes opened more workers to precarious work and work in the informal economy. Workers in insecure work are deterred from joining trade unions for fear of victimisation or job loss. As a result, unions no longer receive a stable contribution from those they represent. In March 2018, unions had received approximately 20 per cent of what they had in March 2017. The reform also permitted educated workers to enter into individualised contracts which opt out of collectively agreed pay and conditions.
Moreover, the government’s stance – that the new law would help to promote collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
– is far removed from reality. A study by the Fipe of the University of São Paulo (Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas) shows a drastic decline of 45 per cent in the number of collective agreements concluded in the first quarter of 2018, in comparison to the same period in 2017. These statistics clearly demonstrate that Law 13.467 entails the worsening of working conditions and the denial of trade union rights, undermining collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
mechanisms.
Moreover, as could be expected with the implementation of the new provisions, unions experience even greater difficulties in negotiating collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
. For example, during the latest round of negotiations in the metal industry in August 2018, CUT/SP was faced with the employers’ stance to renege on rights and social gains guaranteed in the sectoral collective agreement and which, so far, had never been attacked. During negotiations, employers also declared that women workers, who by application of the collective agreement had gained the right to leave half an hour early to pick up their child in daycare, would have to negotiate that point directly with their boss from thereon.

The Brazilian working class is being harshly attacked by employers’ associations. Repressive labour reforms were adopted in July 2017 by the government in an attempt to weaken the unions by attacking their means of financial support. The lack of jobs and the large number of people looking for work will contribute to weakening the working class.
Some entrepreneurs already take advantage of this situation to withdraw labour rights and to lower wages. For Paulo Cesar Borba Peres, Carioca, president of SINTRACONST-ES and a member of FETRACONMAG-ES, affiliated to BWI in Brazil: "Employers are seeking to eliminate the Collective Agreement that is negotiated every year and use the new law that does not guarantee basic rights as the union representation nor the decent working day that every worker deserves.”
The same situation occurs in the state of Bahia where the employers’ association is seeking to negotiate an agreement that is extremely harmful to workers. For this reason, SINTEPAV BA, affiliated to the BWI, began an indefinite strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike against the employer’s proposal. For Irailson Warneaux, president of SINTEPAV BA: “The employer presented a counterproposal with the objective of withdrawing several items conquered in previous Agreement. This regressive pattern suspends the 30-day experience contract, withdraws the obligation to pay for the Profit Result Programme and even discuss occupational health and safety issues, among others.” Warneaux adds: “We will fight against these setbacks and demonstrate the strength of the working class.”

Trade unions in Brazil report difficulties in registering unions and the arbitrary suspension of several trade unions, such as the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores na Mineração de ferro de São Gonçalo do Rio Baixo. SINTRAICCCM also reports persistent discrimination against union members. Some companies put pressure on workers not to join unions or pay union dues. SITICOP-MG (Sindicato dos trabalhadores nas industrias da construção pesada de Mato Grosso) estimates that over a hundred disaffiliation letters were sent by workers under the pressure of their companies. SITICOP also reports difficulties in entering into negotiation with certain companies, such as Vale S.A. which still refuses to negotiate on the improvement of working conditions at the Samarco Fundão Dam after the death of seven workers, while SITRAICP (Sindicato dos trabalhadores nas industrias da construção pesada do Rio de Janeiro) is prohibited by employers from accessing workplaces. The Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias da Construção Civil de Porto Alegre also alleges that work stoppages are sometimes met with physical violence and striking workers are arrested for their actions.

On 12 December 2017, the leader of the Sindicato dos Rodoviários do Pará, George Neto, was murdered following a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by workers at transport company Belém-Rio, the largest in the state of Pará. George Neto was on his way home when he was attacked by a group of men who shot him three times from the vehicle in which they were travelling. The trade unionist was immediately taken to hospital but did not recover from his wounds. The trade union was asking for better pay and working conditions for the company’s employees.

On 31 October 2017, military police officers arrested two workers during a protest being staged by public employees from the Mato Grosso state traffic department, Detran-MT. According to the trade unionists, the police used excessive force when making the arrests, as well as firing tear gas and pepper spray at the demonstrators. The workers were carrying out a peaceful protest in front of the Palacio Paiaguas, when the police blocked off the entrance to the government building. They had been engaged in strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action since 11 September in support of their demand for a pay rise.

On 7 October 2017, employees of the multinational Unilever, in Vinhedo, who were taking industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. , were attacked by the military police, in a blatant violation of their right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The police used brutal force against the workers, arresting three leaders of the chemical workers’ union Sindicato Químicos de Vinhedo. A degree of uproar subsequently broke out at the police station where the trade unionists were being held, and police were deployed in huge numbers, including from neighbouring municipalities, to disperse the workers calling for their colleagues’ release. The police cordoned off the police station, charged at the workers, firing tear gas, and made two arrests.

The general secretary of the federal union of public service employees Sindsep-DF (Sindicato dos Servidores Públicos Federais no DF), Oton Pereira Neves, was arrested by the military police, on 20 June 2017, whilst addressing a workers’ rally with a microphone in front of the Ministry of the Environment (MMA). The holding of rallies at this location is a practice that dates back decades. The workers’ right to legitimate and peaceful dialogue was flouted by an arbitrary, aggressive and reckless act perpetrated by the police of Governor Rodrigo Rollemberg.

On 24 May 2017, police shot at protestors demonstrating against a labour reform bill being debated in Congress. Twenty-nine people, including several trade unionists, were injured in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. One of the demonstrators’ grievances was that the labour reform would weaken trade unions.

On 24 May 2017, police officers opened fire with live ammunition against union activists protesting against a labour law reform. Military troops were deployed in the country’s capital following a day of protests called by the trade union confederations. In all, 49 people were injured, one by a bullet.

On 9 February 2017 Walace Fernaziari, leader of the public transport union in Guarapari, was found dead in his vehicle. The murder took place during a police strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in the town, which had given rise to a wave of violence. Although no suspect has been identified, the murder took place after several transport union leaders from the neighbouring town received threats from individuals identifying themselves as members of parapolice groups, who warned that they would set fire to the buses of drivers who continued to work.

Twenty seven farm workers’ federations and more than 4,000 rural workers’ unions in Brazil demonstrated to express their anger at the brutal murder of Francisca das Chagas Silva, 34 years old, a rural and social worker from the Mirando do Norte union, who was killed with extreme cruelty and sexual violence in the early morning of 1 February 2016, in Miranda do Norte, Maranhão. Francisca had played an active part in the Trade Union Study Group (GES Women) and other activities organised by the Rural Workers Trade Union Movement (MSTTR) in 2015. In August 2015 she took part in the “margarita march”, a feminist campaigning march held every four years in Brasilia to commemorate the murder of Margarida Maria Alves, a workers’ rights activist in Paraíba. The 2015 march was attended by over 100,000 women demanding a Brazil and a world based on sustainable development, democracy, justice, autonomy, equality and freedom.

In October 2015 the Brazilian Senate approved a bill that classifies terrorism as a specific crime in the Penal Code. Trade union organisations and social movements warned that this law should not be interpreted and used to penalise demonstrations and stigmatise those who protest as terrorists. At the end of 2015 the bill was still awaiting final approval by the Chamber of Representatives.

A protest against the possible dismissal of 4,000 workers at an Usiminas iron and steel plant in the city of Cubatao ended in a clash with the police who fired tear gas to disperse the participants. The protest was organised by several unions and was supported by a number of political leaders in Cubatoa, a coastal town in São Paulo State, to oppose the temporary closure of part of the factory by Usiminas, a major iron and steel company whose shareholders include the Argentinian group Techint.
The company called on the police to intervene claiming that the demonstrators were preventing freedom of movement. The police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse some 300 people gathered in front of the factory. After the clash, one person required medical attention and another was arrested by the police.

On 29 April 2015 teachers in the Paraná State demonstrated in the city of Curitiba against changes in social security laws and the reduction in pensions.

The demonstration was violently repressed by military police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators, and excessive force, leaving a total of 400 people injured. Seven people were detained, but later released. Among the wounded, some by rubber bullets, were the President of the CUT Paraná, Regina Cruz and the Vice-president of the national CUT, Carmen Foro. The union’s sound truck that accompanied the march was confiscated.

The CUT stated that the disproportionate use of force by the police, the brutality and lack of respect for human rights showed the authoritarian nature of the local government. The Education Secretary from the Paraná Teachers’ Association, Walkíria Mazeto, also denounced the attacks and the repression, which she believed were carried out on the specific orders of the Governor of Paraná, Beto Richa, a member of the country’s leading opposition party (PSDB).
Nearly six months after the brutal police attack the colonel in charge of the investigation, Carlos Alberto Moreira Bührer ruled that only six soldiers – of the 1,500 or more deployed in the square, accompanied by dogs, horses, water cannon vans and even helicopters – had been responsible for the pitched battle that took place that day, and in which on the police were armed. But none of the six had any decision making powers, they were only following the orders of their superiors. Hence the incident went completely unpunished.

Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues, human rights defender and trade union leader, died from bullet wounds on 25 August 2015 in the city of Bom Jardim, in Maranhão State. His wife, who was with him at the time, was also wounded in the attack. Santos Rodrigues was a member of the council of the Burupi Biological Reserve, an environmentally protected area of the Amazon forest in the Maranhão State. He had campaigned for years against illegal felling and deforestation in the Amazon and worked to defend the rights of his community. He was also a member of the Bom Jardim Workers’ Union. He had received several death threats, and the Pastoral Land Commission and a local human rights organisation had repeatedly reported these to the authorities. Despite this, no measures had been taken to protect him.

Ozano Pereira da Silva, 77, president of the Guarulhos, Aruja and Itaquaquecetuba Union of Paper Industry Workers, was strangled at his union’s office in Gaurulhos on 24 November 2014. According to witnesses, two armed men entered the union office, where there were 20 people present, including union employees and patients of a dentist who was treating union members.

The two men held the union staff hostage, tying their hands and placing plastic bags over their heads. According to the police, the killers waited at the offices for two hours before the Ozano Pereira da Silva arrived. They took him and the treasurer to a back room and strangled Ozano. The treasurer survived.

The union believes the murder of its president was an act of personal vengeance. A hostage heard one of the killers say they were there for one person only. When the assassins arrived and found that Ozano was not present, they forced his secretary to phone him and ask him to come to the office.

Ozano had been president of the union for 29 years. He was also president of the São Paulo State Federation of Paper Industry Workers.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets on striking subway workers in Sao Paulo on 6 June on the second day of their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . Pay negotiations between the Sao Paulo Metro Workers’ Union and the subway company had ended in failure. The strikers had lowered their pay rise demand from an initial 16.5 per cent to 12.2 per cent, but the company was not prepared to improve on its offer of 8.7 per cent. The striking workers had formed a picket line outside the Ana Rosa station, which led the authorities to dispatch riot police to disperse them with tear gas and rubber bullets. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike lasted five days, and 42 workers were dismissed for their part in it. The metro company took a hard line and threatened to dismiss a further 300 workers if they went ahead with a threatened strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on the opening day of the football World Cup in support of their dismissed colleagues.

On Monday 7 April 2014 shots were fired when striking construction workers at Rio’s 2016 Olympic Park clashed with security guards. There were no reports of injuries. Scuffles had broken out between guards and construction workers who had been on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike since 3 April over better union representation, pay and working conditions.

The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike ended after two weeks, on 17 April, when agreement was reached on some of the unions’ demands, while negotiations were to continue on outstanding issues.

On 30 November 2013, hospitality sector workers in Curitiba took strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action in support of their demand for better pay and working conditions. According to the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores em Turismo e Hospitalidade (CONTRATUH), employers responded with an injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. prohibiting the strikers from holding noisy demonstrations in the vicinity of the hotels or restaurants involved in the dispute.

In August 2013, the state-owned Saneamiento Básico del Estado de Sao Paulo (SABESP) made staff cuts, including the dismissal of 31 trade union leaders.

In July 2013, a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by police officers in Roraima state was declared illegal by a labour court ruling.

The judge ruled that the trade union had complied with all the criteria to call a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , but that the sector was considered an “essential service”.

In 2012, public servants working in education in Roraima were hit by a state court ruling that the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike must cease, failing which daily fines of R$100,000 (US$43,000) for the trade union, R$2,000 (US$860) for each trade union leader and R$200 (US$86) for each participant in the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike would be payable.

In July 2013, after the setting up of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas de Radiodifusão e Televisão de Campina Grande, Televisão Paraíba began a campaign to crush the union, dismissing and harassing trade union leaders.

On 11 April 2013, Brazilian workers at the Santander Group delayed the opening of branches in protest against dismissals, job rotations, excessive targets and harassment and to press for better health, security and working conditions, as well as equal opportunities and the acknowledgement of retired workers.

This action was part of the National Day of Action during which a series of protests took place throughout the country, condemning certain banking practices that are damaging to banking workers and have repercussions on the levels of customer service.

In response, Santander brought a case claiming moral damages against the Sindicato dos Bancários e Financiários de São Paulo, Osasco e Região, the Federação dos Trabalhadores em Empresas de Crédito de São Paulo (FETEC/SP) and the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores no Ramo Financeiro (CONTRAF), alleging that the actions of these organisations had caused “irreparable damage to Santander’s image (…) bordering on barbarity”, to quote the terms used in the legal action.

The bank employed the strategy of bringing an issue before the courts that should be addressed in the workplace. CONTRAF commented that this type of anti-trade union practice had been used by the financial institution in 2011 in an attempt to intimidate workers’ representatives.

In March 2013, workers at Veracel went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike when the multinational forestry company refused to negotiate better salaries and working conditions at its plant in the extreme south of Bahía.

In February 2012, the government of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro States refused to negotiate with striking police officers and fire fighters. Demonstrations were criminalised and several leaders were arrested. In Brazil, fire fighters and police officers are military personnel and as such are forbidden from organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. in trade unions or engaging in industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. .

In January 2013, Cicero Guedes, a leader of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra (MST) was ambushed and killed near a sugar cane industrial complex. A former sugar cane cutter, he was cycling home from a meeting to negotiate a solution to the disputes between rural families and the Usina Cambahyba, a complex of seven farms totalling 3,500 hectares.

Udo Wahlbrink, President of the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais de Vilhena e Chupinguaia, in Rondonia, was threatened and shot at three times. Having received no protection from the justice system and the police, he decided to carry a gun, which was used an excuse to detain him and torture him for eight months in 2012.

According to the Pastoral Land Commission (CTP), there were 36 agrarian conflict-related murders in 2012, an increase of 24% on the 29 cases in 2011. In 2012, Rondonia state exceeded Pará state in the total number of murders related to land disputes, with nine cases, as opposed to two the previous year, an increase of 350%.

In November 2012, public health workers in the State of Santa Catarina went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike for over 30 days to demand salary increases. An official order by the public prosecutor determined that industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. could involve up to 70 per cent of workers and that pickets could only occur 200 metres away from workplaces and without the use of communication material such as banners or leaflets.

The Spanish fashion retailer Zara received 52 different fines for a whole range of irregularities, such as outsourcing outsourcing See contracting-out the manufacture of its products to companies employing migrant labour to work over 16 hours a day in slave-like and unsanitary conditions.

On 21 October, the Sindicato Nacional dos Aeroportuários (SINA) led a 48-hour stoppage at Viracopos airport in the city of Campinas, around 100 km from Sao Paulo, in protest at the concession model chosen by the Brazilian government. Under the new model, ground operations, cargo handling, air navigation, fare control, specialised engineering and maintenance services will be contracted out to private companies, making employment conditions more precarious. The workers are still calling for their rights to be protected.

Municipal cemetery workers in charge of burials in the city of Sao Paulo, affiliated to the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores na Administração Pública e Autarquias do Município de São Paulo (Sindesp), went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 30 August. The action went on for seven days. The workers were demanding a pay rise of 39%, given that their wages had not been reviewed since 1995.

On 19 August 2011, the Labour Ministry discovered two manufacturing sweatshops in Sao Paulo employing 15 immigrants, mostly Bolivian and poor, who were being forced to work 16 hours a day in degrading conditions. According to an ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights study published in October 2011, the Brazilian Labour Inspectorate has, since 1995, freed over 36,000 people found working in slave-like conditions, without a contract or a wage.