09/29/2023 – 8:37
The six largest trade unions in the country – CUT, Força Sindical, UGT, CTB, CSB and Nova Central – prepared a proposal for self-regulation of a new union contribution, amid the negative repercussion that the issue received after the Federal Supreme Court (STF) allowed charging non-union workers, in a decision made on the 12th. As it also affects those not affiliated with unions, the measure has been seen as a return to the union tax – although there are differences.
The proposal provides for charging only after approval in a meeting with the possibility of participation by union members and non-union members, but does not set limits for the amounts deducted. The document only speaks of “reasonable values, with limits that do not characterize indirect forms of mandatory membership”.
In the union tax, abolished by the 2017 labor reform, the amount charged to the worker was fixed and was equivalent to a day’s pay. The amount collected was used to fund the union. The new contribution would be free to use by the entity, with no fixed value, which would be established by negotiation.
The idea of the centers is to combine into a single tax the assistance contribution, released by the Supreme Court, and the confederative contribution, currently only disbursed by union members. The objective is for members to pay a contribution.
Even though the contribution aims to recover financing for unions, which lost revenue after the labor reform, the centrals deny that they are resuming the union tax.
In the proposal, the centers reiterate that the amount charged will be subject to negotiation with workers and that it must be applied in the event of successful campaigns for wages, benefits or working conditions, which cover all workers, whether unionized or not.
Right of refusal
The STF authorized the collection of the contribution as long as the worker’s right to refuse is explicit. In the self-regulation proposal, the centers do not explain the case. “Each union entity must, within its scope of negotiation, offer mechanisms for clarification and conditions for expressing the will of union members and non-union members.”
The centers reject that this opposition is mediated by the employer, and defend the punishment of companies that encourage their employees to refuse the discount.
The centers should meet next week with representatives of employers’ unions in the working group created by minister Luiz Marinho (Labor) to discuss the format of a bill allowing the new contribution. The STF’s decision, in the understanding of the centrals, would already allow the charge, but the matter is still subject to negotiation.
The information is from the newspaper The State of S. Paulo.
#Unions #selfregulate #tax