Wadih Damous will present a bill to protect workers.

247 - Federal deputy Wadih Damous (PT/RJ), former president of the OAB/RJ (Brazilian Bar Association, Rio de Janeiro chapter), announced that he will present a bill to the National Congress so that unions can charge a fee to those who are not union members but benefit from collective agreements, conventions, and labor disputes. The end of the union tax is 'breaking' all unions, and the situation of worker representation is at risk of disappearing.

“With the end of the union tax without any transition phase, the unions are collapsing. The objective of those who made this labor reform was precisely to strike a blow against the union movement,” denounced Damous. “Moreover, this vote in the Supreme Court last week confirms that the 2016 coup was against the workers,” he emphasized.  

Individual rights

The lawmaker assessed that the reform is producing deadly effects on the Brazilian working class, both in terms of trade union organizations and in terms of individual workers' rights.

According to the congressman, in the context of individual rights, the reform coerces workers into not filing labor lawsuits. "With the reform, a worker can win practically all claims in a lawsuit (vacation pay, overtime, etc.), but if the judge rules against a single claim, the worker will have to pay court costs and attorney's fees to the opposing party. This is absurd," he accused.

Today, workers reason that they can enter as a creditor and leave as a debtor. This is the reason for the brutal reduction (46%) in the number of labor lawsuits between December 2017 (after the reform was approved) and March of this year, compared to the same period in previous years (data from the Superior Labor Court – TST). In absolute numbers, this represents 381.270 fewer cases.

Damous will also present a bill to end this coercion. "In the bill, the worker will only have to pay fees if they lose the case entirely. Losing partially cannot give rise to the payment of attorney's fees to the opposing party," stated the former president of the OAB/RJ (Brazilian Bar Association of Rio de Janeiro). 

Voting at the Supreme Federal Court

On June 29th, the Supreme Court justices ruled on 19 cases challenging the elimination of mandatory union dues. By a vote of six to three, the Court decided to uphold the end of the contribution, which had already been optional since the approval of the labor reform in November.