Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 244, June 1986

Case No 1294 (Brazil) - Complaint date: 13-JUL-84 - Closed

229. The complaints were presented by a number of national trade unions: the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG), the Federation of Agricultural Workers of the State of Pernambuco (FETAPE), the Federation of Workers of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FTIC), and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) . They were originally submitted to the ILO prior to the change in the Brazilian regime in 1985. The Government has since sent information on these cases in communications dated 21 April and 6 and 8 May 1986.

1. 229. The complaints were presented by a number of national trade unions: the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG), the Federation of Agricultural Workers of the State of Pernambuco (FETAPE), the Federation of Workers of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FTIC), and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) . They were originally submitted to the ILO prior to the change in the Brazilian regime in 1985. The Government has since sent information on these cases in communications dated 21 April and 6 and 8 May 1986.
2. 230. Brazil has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), but has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. The complainants' allegations

1. 231. The allegations in these cases refer to acts of violence committed by employers against workers, trade union activists and union leaders in the sugar cane plantations and alcohol distilleries of several States of Brazil, and specifically in Pernambuco and Sao Paulo, and to the failure of the Government to put a stop to them.
2. 232. In the case of the State of Pernambuco in particular, the allegations concern the banning of union leaders from sugar plantations, the hindering of trade union activities, the burning of trade union premises, the interruption of the check-off system for union dues, death threats and even the assassination of union leaders or their relations simply for having demanded the implementation or renewal of collective agreements. Moreover, the complainants claim that a situation bordering on slavery and forced labour has developed in these regions, with workers being recruited clandestinely from other parts of the country to break the strikes called by the regular workers belonging to FETAPE.
3. 233. The complainants explained that following a general strike in 1979 the 240,000 rural workers of the sugar cane growing area secured a collective agreement on wages and labour standards and a guarantee that land would be made available to them for food crops. From 1979 to 1983 other collective agreements were signed under the aegis of the labour court and the workers became aware that they could take legal action to have them enforced. As from 1982, however, the employers began to sabotage the agreements by recruiting huge numbers of unemployed labour from the drought-stricken areas of Sertao and Agreste. They got rid of the regular workers and replaced them by large numbers of underpaid, non-unionised clandestine workers from those areas. After the harvest, these workers returned to their home districts and had no way of demanding that their rights be respected before a labour court.
4. 234. According to the complainants, these illegal manoeuvres by the employers were facilitated by the inertia of the regional labour delegation which, after the 1982 elections, relaxed its supervision. In order to secure the departure en masse of the regular workers from the Meta area, the employers suddenly imposed a substantial increase in the workload, doubling or tripling the daily volume of work provided for in the collective agreements. They brought private militia onto the sugar plantations, armed with revolvers and rifles, to "pay a visit" on the inhabitants and "supervise" the payment of the workers. Some workers who had been granted land for their own use were no longer allowed to grow food crops on it; the land was laid waste and turned into cane-fields. The employers forbade the workers to mention the trade union and the labour standards stipulated in the collective agreements and ceased deducting union dues from their pay. The private militia denied trade union officials access to the plantations and punished workers who, as union delegates, attempted to keep in touch with their union. Some whose names were communicated by CONTAG and the ICFTU received death threats, were locked up in private prisons or were even assassinated, especially in the Goias area.
5. 235. In the State of Sao Paulo the FTIC is unable to organise the workers of the state alcohol distilleries and is being prevented from establishing occupational associations that could subsequently become trade uninons. In Gantus , for instance, an agro-industrial enterprise with a distillery in Tupa, the employer has circulated a petition among the staff stating that the workers recognise that the enterprise is well run and rejecting the "inopportune" remarks of Pedro GonUales da Silva, a union leader responsible for unionisation in the State of Sao Paulo. The remarks referred to were a call to strike, and workers who did not sign the petition were liable to be placed on a "black list". The vast majority of the workers of Gantus therefore signed the petition.

B. The Government's replies

1. 236. In its reply the Government states that it has sought clarification from the President of FETAPE and that the instances of violence in the Meta area have now declined considerably, particularly those connected with the exodus of the regular plantation workers. Moreover, disputes between the employers and the regular workers and rural workers' trade union are now confined to specific, localised areas. The situation that had arisen stemmed from the lack of laws and regulations governing labour relations, the disillusionment of the workers with the effectiveness of trade union action and, ultimately, the country's land-ownership structure. The Government is currently drafting two Bills to settle this kind of dispute. One is being prepared by the Ministry of Labour and governs the working conditions of temporary workers in sugar plantations, and the other is designed to implement the President of the Republic's solemn undertaking to undertake an agrarian reform that will bring about a viable and healthy solution to issues of this kind. The Bills are currently before the national Congress.
2. 237. The Government notes that in May 1985 collective agreements based on the "Guariba agreement" on labour relations in sugar plantations in the State of Sao Paulo were signed. It encloses a copy of the agreements between the Federation of Agriculture of the State of Sao Paulo and the Federation of Agricultural Workers, the Sugar Industries' Trade Union and the Alcohol Industries' Trade Union of the State of Sao Paulo. It adds that the Ministry of Labour has decided to set up a special group to enforce the agreements and encloses a copy of the relevant Decree No. 3246 of 31 March 1985. The Decree specifies that the special group is to be tripartite and must submit its first conclusions and recommendations within 60 days of the entry into force of the collective agreements. A collective agreement was signed on 2l September l985 between the rural workers and sugar cane plantation employers in the East of Pernambuco.
3. 238. In addition, on 20 September 1985 the Ministry of Labour set up a special tripartite committee to examine complaints of infringements of freedom of association made against the Government of Brazil through the ILO. The committee was required to submit its conclusions to the Labour Rights Commission of the Ministry of Labour. The tripartite committee met on 21 January 1986 and concluded that the facts that had been denounced were of the utmost gravity. They concern the assassination of rural workers, death threats, acts of violence against rural workers and union leaders, the holding of persons in private prisons, the existence of private militias, the practice of torture by the federal police of Goias, attacks and other violations of human rights. The committee concluded that it could not reach any conclusion without concrete information as to whether or not steps had been taken by the competent authorities to deal with each complaint, how far the inquiries had advanced and whether the State Prosecutor's office had been informed. The committee therefore asked the Ministry of Labour's legal adviser to request the Office of the Ministry of Justice for detailed information on each case. Thereafter, on 6 March 1986, the Minister of Labour requested the Minister of Justice to investigate all the complaints submitted in Case No. 1313. As soon as it has received the necessary information on this case, the committee will be in a position to reach definitive conclusions.
4. 239. With respect to Case No. 1331, the regional labour delegation of the State of Sao Paulo has called for an investigation of the matter. This delegation indicated that on 26 August l985 the Federation of Workers of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries accepted that the matter was now closed. The Government attaches to its reply communication No. 24.440-13.399/85, signed on 26 August l985 by the said Federation, from which it appears that the conflict which had developed at the TUPA-SP enterprise had been resolved.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 240. The Committee observes that the complaints were submitted prior to the change in the Brazilian regime in 1985. Nevertheless, they contain extremely serious allegations concerning acts of violence by employers in sugar plantations in the States of Pernambuco and Sao Paulo and in alcohol distilleries. The allegations refer to the banning of trade union leaders from sugar plantations, the hindering of trade union activities, the burning of trade union premises, the interruption of the check-off system for union dues, death threats and the assassination of union leaders.
2. 241. The Committee has noted the very specific information submitted by the Government on the subject and, in particular, the creation of two tripartite committees concerning the complaints at issue in the present cases. One of these committees is responsible for ensuring the enforcement of collective agreements, the other with examining the complaints brought before the ILO in the present case. The Committee also notes that two Bills - one dealing with the working conditions of temporary workers in sugar plantations and the other with agrarian reform - are currently being drafted by the national Congress.
3. 242. The Committee recalls the very great importance it attaches to respect for human rights as a precondition of respect for trade union rights. It deplores the loss of human life and the very serious acts of violence committed by the employers against unionised workers in the sugar plantations and alcohol distilleries of the State of Pernambuco and Sao Paulo. It regrets the use of temporary workers who are not permitted to join unions in order to prevent the unionised workers from exercising their rights. However, the Committee notes with interest the appointment of a tripartite committee to investigate these extremely serious matters and requests the Government to keep it informed of its findings.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 243. In these circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to approve the present report, and in particular the following conclusions:
   • a) The Committee notes that, in view of the extreme seriousness of the allegations concerning acts of violence by employers in sugar plantations and distilleries in the States of Pernambuco and Sao Paulo, the new Government has appointed one tripartite committee to investigate the complaints submitted in the present cases and another to ensure the enforcement of the collective agreements in these sectors in the State of Sao Paulo.
   • b) The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the outcome of all the investigations connected with these cases.