Outsourcing: controversy and misinformation

The Brazilian economy is doing poorly. The average annual GDP growth during Dilma's eight years in government will be a mediocre 1%. In 2015, it will be negative.

Brazil is losing competitiveness. Innovation is low. We produce many PhDs, publish many articles, but patents and innovative products are few. Deindustrialization is clear. We are marching towards a pre-1930 reality, a far from glorious return to a primary-exporting economy. Fiscal and exchange rate imbalances are worrying. The tax burden is high and the cost of doing business in Brazil is prohibitive. Modernizing reforms have been paralyzed. Brazil is lagging behind countries like South Korea, India, and China. Investments have stagnated at an insufficient 18% of GDP. The electricity sector has been disorganized and the oil sector has entered a crisis. Stimulus measures have not had the expected effects. Regulatory agencies have been dismantled. The educational revolution lies unfinished. In short, the medium- and long-term outlook is not at all encouraging.

The world has changed, and Brazil hasn't kept up. The challenge of increasing competitiveness and productivity is being addressed timidly. We are missing the "train of history."

One of the serious obstacles to greater and more dynamic development is the rigidity of our labor market. Suspicious of the capacity for free negotiation between workers and employers in the labor market, we always take refuge in the overprotective state and the legislation spearheaded by the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws), which originated in the 40s and played an important role there. We have built a constitutional and legal framework, a veritable thicket of rules, that inhibits innovative and free arrangements compatible with the contemporary world, which is characterized by a diversified, fragmented, and flexible economy.

The Chamber of Deputies finally concluded, after 11 years of discussions, last Wednesday, the voting on Bill 4.330/04, which regulates outsourced work. Controversy and misinformation arose. Legal uncertainty was rampant on the subject, resulting in one million lawsuits in the Labor Courts in 2014 and 14 appeals to the Superior Labor Court (TST), weakening workers and inhibiting investment and the creation of new jobs. The approved law, which will go to the Senate, ensures equal rights for outsourced workers in food, transportation, workplace safety, training, and healthcare. It guarantees the correct collection of all social security rights and labor obligations. It values ​​the participation of unions in the process. It guarantees specialization and quality. Many people tried to confuse public opinion, saying that the bill is against the worker.

The PSDB, through an amendment it approved, prudently removed state-owned companies from the law, meaning they will not be able to outsource core activities. And it extended the rights stipulated in the law to outsourced public sector workers.

I am confident and certain that this was a great step forward.

Article published in the newspaper O Tempo.