Definitive Report - Report No 15, 1955

Case No 83 (Brazil) - Complaint date: 03-AUG-53 - Closed

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 11. In a communication presented on 3 August 1953, the complainant alleges that in 1952, 6,000 telephone girls employed by the Telephone Company (Light and Power Concern) took action in Rio de Janeiro to obtain payment of a minimum wage. The police are alleged to have expelled the telephonists who remained on the premises where the service was carried on with such brutality that one of them went mad, 20 others being injured and all the employees under 18 years of age being arrested.
   • ANALYSIS OF THE REPLY
2. 12. In its reply dated 5 January 1955, the Government declares the complaint to be without foundation and adduces, in particular, the following arguments.
3. 13. At the beginning of 1952, four employees of the Companhia telefônica brasileira were legally dismissed by the Company. On 10 April 1952, wishing to protest against the measure taken against them, they entered the staff refectory on the Company's premises, where some 200 persons were gathered together, and organised a meeting, in the course of which seditious speeches were delivered. The responsible supervisors were unable to restore order and had to call in the police, who sent an official of the Federal Department of Public Security, who was booed and even attacked. At the same time, another employee organised another meeting near the door leading to the Company's premises. As a general disturbance threatened to develop, the public security official called on the police for help. Ten telephonists were detained on charges of disorderly behaviour, committing damage and inciting others to abandon work. Warrants were issued for the arrest of four of them, whose names are given by the Government, while the six others, being minors, were committed to the Juvenile Court. The ten telephonists arrested were immediately admitted to bail.
4. 14. The Government states that no person was injured and that no minor was imprisoned.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 15. On 18 November 1952, the Brazilian Government ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98), 1949. Brazil has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (No. 87), 1948.
2. 16. The complainant alleges, in particular, that on the occasion of a strike called for the purpose of obtaining payment of a minimum wage by the Rio de Janeiro Telephone Company, the police intervened with such violence that several employees were injured and one young girl went mad. All the employees under 18 years of age are alleged to have been arrested.
3. 17. The Government declares that the case in question was not one of a strike but of a disturbance committed on the premises of the Telephone Company by four employees, who entered in order to protest against their dismissal, which had been legally effected. The responsible supervisors were unable to restore order and had to call in the police. Ten telephonists were arrested on charges of disorderly behaviour, committing damage and inciting others to abandon work. These ten persons, including the six minors committed to the Juvenile Court, were immediately admitted to bail. The Government emphasises that no person was injured nor were any minors imprisoned.
4. 18. The complaint consists essentially of the allegation that on the occasion of a collective action taken by telephonists in order to obtain payment of a minimum wage, violence was exercised against the strikers by the police and that, for this reason, there was an infringement of the free exercise of trade union rights.
5. 19. The Government, on the other hand, denies that there was any strike. According to the Government, disturbances broke out as a result of the intrusion in the Company's premises of four telephonists who had been legally dismissed, and who had consequently ceased to belong to the staff of the undertaking. As the responsible supervisors could not control the disturbance, they asked for the police to intervene to restore order. It is stated that no one was injured as a result of this intervention. The ten persons concerned were arrested on charges which have no direct relation to trade union rights : committing damage, disorderly behaviour, inciting others to abandon work ; they were immediately admitted to bail.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 20. In view of the explanation given by the Government that the Brazilian authorities intervened solely in order to restore order on the premises of the Telephone Company, the Committee considers that the complainant has not offered sufficient proof to show that any infringement of the free exercise of trade union rights occurred in the case in question and, therefore, recommends the Governing Body to decide that the case does not call for further examination.