ILO Includes Brazil in List of Countries Suspected of Violating Labor Rights

By Xiu Ying

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The International Labor Organization (ILO) has included Brazil in the list of countries suspected of violating labor rights.

Representatives of employers and workers participating in the 108th International Labour Conference, held by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, drew up the list of the 24 countries denounced for violation of international labor standards that will be examined by the Commission for the Application of ILO Norms.

In addition to Brazil, Turkey, Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Tajikistan, Uruguay, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Laos, Philippines, and Serbia are on the list. Brazil will be required to provide clarifications during the conference.

“Brazil was to respond to the impact of labor reform, such as the creation of employment. There was no creation of employment, and the government issued a provisional measure preventing the deduction of union contributions from payroll when the legislature approved this deduction. The trade union central offices worked with the ILO so that the Brazilian government would again be called upon to provide answers,” said Milton Neco, international secretary of the Trade Union Force.

According to Neco, the murder and persecution of union leaders also led to the inclusion of Brazil in the 14th position.

The secretary of Social Security and Labor, Rogério Marinho, the rapporteur of the labor reform in Congress in 2017, used a social network to refute ILO’s decision.

“The decision to include Brazil in the ILO’s shortlist has neither a legal nor a technical basis. No evidence of reduction of rights or violation of Convention No. 98 has been provided. The politicization of the selection process is clear. It is regrettable that some unions are working against Brazil.”

This is the second consecutive year that Brazil appears on the list due to the denunciation submitted by Brazilian trade unions claiming that the changes in labor laws enacted in November 2017 are contrary to ILO Convention No. 98, to which Brazil is a signatory.

Approved by the ILO in 1949 and ratified by Brazil in 1952, during the government of Getúlio Vargas, Convention No. 98 establishes rules for the protection of workers’ rights, such as union membership and participation in collective bargaining.