17 September, 2009A new publication on subcontracting in Brazil explains how it is a fundamental cause of lower wages, conditions and job insecurity and explores how trade unions are responding to subcontracting and precarious employment in Brazil.
BRAZIL: As in many parts of the world, subcontracting in Brazil has resulted in widespread precarious work. Although described as modern and competitive, in practical terms subcontracting has meant a reduction of wages and benefits, an increase in the hours of work and has created job instability.
Terceitização en Brasil (Subcontracting in Brazil), a recent publication of the national trade union centre CUT, brings to light all the consequences of subcontracting in Brazil. Written by university professors and trade union activists, the publication explores the impact of subcontracting in eight sectors of the Brazilian economy and also looks at the important contribution Brazilian unions are playing in responding to the practical reality of subcontracting.
In a section on the metal sector, Valter Sanches General Secretary of IMF affiliate CNM-CUT, speaks of the a historical changes caused by the implementation of subcontracting in the sector, citing examples of how metalworkers are trying to prevent subcontracting through collective bargaining agreements. Sanches also explains how international framework agreements can be important instruments in the fight against precarious work.
The book also sets out the project of regulating subcontracting through the law, elaborated for CUT after a vigorous internal debate, and recommends a debate in the National Congress, making it obligatory reading for all that are fighting for a better life.