Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Brazil (Ratification: 1952)

In its previous direct request, the Committee asked the Government to provide a copy of Decree No. 3735 of 24 January 2001 which, according to the Government’s previous report, tacitly repealed Decree No. 908 of 31 August 1993 establishing restrictions on the collective bargaining of wages in public enterprises and mixed economy enterprises, making real wage increases contingent upon certain criteria such as increased productivity, the distribution of dividends or the alignment of the overall remuneration of employees with current levels in the labour market. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government reproduces the text of the aforementioned Decree. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report under the terms of which provision of Decree No. 3735 of 24 January 2001, Decree No. 908 of 31 August 1993 is held to have been tacitly repealed.

The Committee also observes that Act No. 10192 of February 2001 respecting additional measures under the Real Plan provides in section 13 that automatic price index-related wage increases or adjustments may not be included in agreements or “dissídios colectivos”. The Committee notes that the Government states that the aim of the standard was to encourage free collective bargaining between the parties, as it is they who must establish wage adjustments for the category and points out that the exclusion of the so-called automatic indexation of wages does not represent a restriction of the free bargaining promoted by the ILO. According to the Government, the aforementioned section does not necessarily constitute an obstacle to wage adjustment to compensate for the loss of purchasing power as a result of the inflationary process which continues to affect the Brazilian economy, although to a lesser extent than previously.

The Committee requests the Government to take steps to amend the abovementioned provision so that the parties to collective bargaining can freely decide whether they wish to agree on automatic wage adjustments in particular, in collective agreements of long duration. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on all steps taken to this end.