Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

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

The Committee once again asks the Government to provide in its next report a copy of Decree No. 3735 of 24 January 2001 which, according to the Government’s previous report, tacitly repealed Decree No. 908 of 31 August 1993 establishing restrictions on the collective bargaining of wages in public enterprises and mixed economy enterprises, making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.

Lastly, the Committee notes that Act No. 10192 of February 2001 respecting additional measures under the Real Plan (economic stabilization programme) provides in section 13 that automatic price index-related wage increases or adjustments may not be included in agreements or "dissídios colectivos". In this connection, the Committee recalled in its General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, that "if, under an economic stabilization or structural adjustment policy, that is, for imperative reasons of national economic interest, wage rates cannot be fixed freely by means of collective bargaining, these restrictions should be applied as an exceptional measure and only to the extent necessary, should not exceed a reasonable period and should be accompanied by safeguards to protect effectively the standard of living of the workers concerned, in particular those who are likely to be the most affected" (paragraph 260). In these circumstances, and in view of the fact that three years have elapsed since the adoption of the said Act, the Committee requests the Government to take steps to amend the abovementioned provision so as to encourage free and voluntary collective bargaining between the parties. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on all steps taken to this end.