Jurists debate the future of trade union rights

What are the impacts of the labor reform for unions? With the end of mandatory union dues, what are the entities’ collection alternatives? These were some of the issues debated this Monday (10th) at the event 80 Years of CLT and the Future of Trade Union Law, promoted by the Brazilian Lawyers Institute, in Rio de Janeiro. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Labor in the 1st Region, Fábio Goulart Villela, defended the discussion of a new form of funding for trade union organizations. For him, unions are important agents that guarantee workers’ rights. The labor reform (Law 13,467 of July 13, 2017), according to Villela, deliberately sought to weaken these actors and, consequently, withdraw employee rights. “The trade union movement needs to meet, debate and seek solutions to its problems and not be at the mercy of other agents because the loser is not the union alone, the loser is the working class. With a weak working class, society is weak, the market is weak and there is no economic growth. Economic growth comes with purchasing power, which comes with improved working conditions for the working class,” he said. The labor reform changed the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT). Among the changes, the reform put an end to the mandatory union contribution and, with that, ended the main source of income for unions. The union contribution, which was provided for in the CLT, was paid by the worker once a year, in the amount corresponding to the remuneration of a normal working day, without including overtime. The contribution was created in the 1940s to strengthen the trade union movement. According to data presented at the event, with the change, union income fell by more than 90% in 2021 compared to what was collected in 2017, before the reform took effect. According to labor law professor Benizete Ramos de Medeiros, this is the time for unions to reinvent themselves. She believes that there will not be a return of the contribution. “If the reform and dismantling of trade unionism and the collective movement in Brazil are political, what has to be done is politics. Now, unions need to reinvent themselves, there are almost 11 million workers’ unions in Brazil, but we can say that few are representative. It is time for unions to reinvent themselves, try to say what they came for and leave the feud of mandatory union dues, because it will not be mandatory again, I think it is very difficult ”, she highlighted. The secretary of the IAB Labor Law Commission, Pedro Milione, agrees with the end of the compulsory contribution. For him, the mistake of the reform in this regard was not having established a deadline for the entities to adapt. Without the deadline, according to him, the provision of services by the organizations was practically unfeasible. Now, six years after the amendment, Milione defends that “the unions need to look ahead and do what every private association does, seek members”. Villela, Medeiros and Milione participated in the Union Finance panel: Ways of Costing, which was also transmitted online. In the morning, the Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, also participated in the event and criticized the labor reform, calling it anti-reform. “How can a unionism exist if it has no source of income, source of income? In what way, how to organize your trade unionists?”, he questioned. Assistance contribution In an interview with Agência Brasil, the president of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores – Distrito Federal (CUT-DF), Rodrigo Rodrigues, explains that the discussion today is not the return of the union tax, but a greater guarantee of the negotiation or assistance rate . “We are not discussing the return of the tax as it used to be, what is being discussed is the negotiation or assistance fee, which is charged when there is collective bargaining, when there is mobilization of the unions and that it is approved in the assembly”, he says. The Federal Constitution says that “the general meeting will set the contribution that, in the case of a professional category, will be deducted from the payroll, to fund the confederative system of the respective union representation, regardless of the contribution provided for by law”. What happens, according to Rodrigues, is that currently there is no obligation for this payment. Workers who want to dispute the charge can do so and do not need to pay the contribution. The claim of the unions is that the obligation or not be defined by the categories in general assembly. “If it’s approved, everyone pays, and if it’s not approved, there’s no charge.” Rodrigues also emphasizes the role of unions, which, in their work, end up benefiting all workers and not just unionized ones, which would justify the payment of the contribution when there is any union mobilization. “The unions are important in defending the interests of workers, not just the category they represent, but the entire working class. They are a fundamental part of Brazilian democracy, they are the ones who build the proposals to advance the rights of those who build the wealth of Brazil and the world”, highlighted Rodrigues. Currently, an appeal on the unconstitutionality of the assistance contribution is being judged by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). According to Rodrigues, the issue is also being discussed by the CUT with the Ministry of Labor. The current labor legislation is being discussed by the portfolio, which must forward proposals for changes to the National Congress.

Agência Brasil