In the first quarter of 2018 in Brazil, the number of collective agreements that were approved was down 48% compared to the same period in 2017. The first quarter also saw a 29% dip in new company-level agreements in the country. The figures come from a study put together by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies (DIEESE), according to which collective negotiations have been made more lengthy and complex since the arrival of a labour law reform last year. They add that another consequence of the reform has been the weakening of trade unions.
The reform of the Brazilian labour code, which was approved in July 2017 and came into force in November, has altered the way employees and employers negotiate (see article n°10312). Speaking to newspaper O Globo, the DIEESE’s trade union relations coordinator José Silvestre Prado de Oliveira, says that negotiations are increasingly taking place company by company, rather than at branch level.
Do you have information to share with us?