Labor relations cannot regress. NO to outsourcing!!

Despite the achievements and progress in labor rights and relations in Brazil, a closer look reveals how difficult these relationships still are. The Labor Prosecutor's Office and the bodies responsible for overseeing compliance with the legislation governing the sector have a relentless task in curbing labor fraud against formal employees. It is still not uncommon to find workers without their rights guaranteed, nor is it uncommon to find cases of work analogous to slavery. Labor achievements and progress are still in a period of consolidation and cannot be allowed to regress.

The approval of Bill 4330/2004, which regulates and expands the possibility of outsourcing in Brazil, goes against the gains achieved so far by the working class, both in social terms and in terms of workplace safety. Currently, outsourcing is regulated by Ruling No. 331 of the Superior Labor Court (TST), which allows outsourcing only in so-called support activities, prohibiting companies from hiring outsourced workers for their core business. Statistical data from the Coge Foundation (established in 1998 by companies in the Brazilian electricity sector) show that in 2010 there were 82 fatal accidents in this sector nationwide, of which 72, or 87,8%, involved workers from outsourced companies.

Another statistic, from the National Association of Labor Prosecutors (ANPT), shows that, in every ten workplace accidents, eight occur in companies that use outsourced labor. Allow me to quote the line of argument of the president of ANPT, Carlos Eduardo de Azevedo Lima, in a public hearing this week to debate Bill 4330/2004, promoted by the Human Rights and Participatory Legislation Committee (CDH) of the Federal Senate. [QUOTE]: "Since the advent of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), back in the 40s, social rights have never received such a serious and frontal attack that aims, in fact, to break the backbone of Labor Law, as Bill 4330 ends up doing."

On the other hand, the same ANPT considers Bill 4330/2004 unconstitutional because it allows the outsourcing of core business activities.

The CUT, the main workers' union in Brazil and one of the largest in the world, points out several problems related to outsourced companies in Brazil, including the fact that "they close companies and do not pay severance to workers, as demonstrated by the list of the 100 largest labor debtors of the Superior Labor Court (TST)"; in another item, they show that outsourced workers work more hours than other workers, without overtime or time off in lieu. Another known point is that outsourced employees receive salaries about 30% lower than other workers.

In short, I have no doubt that this bill will facilitate the precariousness of work, in addition to generating instability in the labor market. Brazil currently has 12,7 million outsourced workers, protected by a legal framework that is still not ideal. And Bill 4330/2004 will certainly worsen the situation for workers, as it indicates that it could make the work of 35 million non-outsourced workers more precarious. Our parliament needs to be sensitized. Society as a whole cannot remain absent from this debate, because the price to be paid later will be very high. We can never go backwards.