20 August, 2007Brazilian metalworkers call for job security and the ratification of ILO Convention No. 158, which states that employers should not terminate workers unless there is a valid reason.
BRAZIL: From August 13 to 15, thousands of Brazilian metalworkers were in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, to fight for job security through the ratification of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 158. During the protest the metalworkers also called for the implementation of a National Collective Agreement, the unification of the bargaining deadline in September and the establishment of a national minimum wage for metalworkers. The action was organised by Brazilian Metalworker's Confederation (CNM/CUT).
As part of the protest workers marched to the Brazilian Congress, National Industry Confederation, Work Ministry, ILO Office, Superior Court of Work and the Brazilian Supreme Court to deliver documents in support of their demands for job security. The ILO Convention No. 158, which concerns the termination of employment at the initiative of the employer, was approved in Brazil in 1995, but one year later, the convention was suspended after a claim made by the National Industry and Transport Confederations.
The unions are seeking ratification of ILO Convention 158 to stop employers in Brazil from the widespread practice of turning over workers from one year to the next to reduce wage costs by re-employing workers on lower conditions than previously offered.
Prior to the action in Brasilia, Brazilian metalworkers held similar local protests at the offices of the employers' groups in the city of São Paulo, on June 27 and Belo Horizonte on July 25.