Before getting into the subject of this article, I would like to invite the reader to help me with some questions of order. Do we live in underdeveloped Brazil or the developed United States?? our society has a structure marked by inequality and disarticulation or has an almost Nordic profile? Put this way, It doesn't seem very difficult to get the answers; However, as I approached the discussion on the reform of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), Such questions became uncomfortable and difficult to answer.
Such difficulty in understanding Brazil is not exclusive to this discussion. In true, one way or another, is present in the main debates involving issues linked to the direction the country will follow. De um forma simplista e caricata, poderíamos classificar os debatedores – segundo sua fundamentação argumentativa – em elitistas e populares. Enquanto os primeiros valem-se das mais sofisticadas teorias (importadas!), propondo ações baseadas naquilo que acreditam ser o Brasil; os segundos diante da dificuldade em formular uma visão estratégica de país, fazem lutas pontuais e, sometimes, contraditórias. Logo voltaremos a este ponto.
Para discutir a questão da CLT vejo-me obrigado a apresentar minha concepção de lei. A lei não é a verdade escrita, nem mesmo como devem funcionar as coisas na sociedade; before, é uma trincheira, que marca posições dentro do quadro dos conflitos sociais. Like this, a lei é apenas um meio e não um fim. The speeches surrounding his reforms cannot be understood as rhetorical exercises or as a disinterested search for social justice; not democratic world, these speeches are the weapons and reform proposals the battle strategy. Let us enter the debate with awareness of this.
A first point that should capture our attention is who are the main actors involved. On one side I fear the business community, and on the other the workers (no case, qualified: unions). If the CLT reform aims to give more importance to agreements made between these two groups, It's difficult to understand why we don't take care of giving freedom to both. no world, Brazil is one of the few countries that have not yet signed the Convention 87 of the Organization & ccedil; & atilde, the International Labor (OIT), which establishes the freedom of association regime. If the CLT reform proposal were something neutral, society and the State should also allow unions to be legitimate representatives of workers and not sole options (I don't mean to say that all unions are bad., however, they are not always representative).
An important line of argument for the reform is the relaxation of legislation, allowing companies to face economic crises with greater strength. Let us momentarily agree with the pact of hypocrisy that seeks to “forget” that capitalism is based on risk (What are interest anyway??) and let's take care of preparing for crises. How many companies develop an aggressive profit sharing program? how many are willing to negotiate, together with the flexibility of the CLT, significant profit sharing? The result we arrived at is: when in crisis, the worker gives in, when it grows, shareholders are happy.
To sustain the need for reform before public opinion, no shortage of abstract statements and statistics. Here we return to that idea of “which country we live in”. The Federation of Industries of São Paulo (FIESP), found an interesting set of numbers: 2 million in Brazil, 17 thousand in the United States and 1,5 thousand in Japan would be labor actions in the year 2000. Pronto, the justification is given. They just forgot to say that Japanese society is one of the least litigious in the world and that, us United States, Free negotiation combined with trade union freedom now works, which justifies a sharp drop. Added to this, the American economic and social structure is very different from the Brazilian one, which makes the comparison of these numbers a mere rhetorical resource.
One of the best pro-reform arguments, although little explored by the media, is that the flexibility of the CLT will make it possible to shorten the distances between large and small companies. How legislation was made for large companies, flexibility will allow small companies to take advantage of part of their potential. The argument, However, not enough to sustain the reform, it would be more beneficial to create parallel systems, more suited to the realities of small businesses, as with the so-called “Simple” tax.
The last line of argument I will address, and the most important, is the question of the power of the parties during a negotiation. Economic crises, No brazil, these are not short moments of exception, however a constant. Faced with the profound inequalities in our society – and the resulting misery – Brazilian elites have a lot to offer, while the mass, in their desperation for survival, barely accepted. Specifically, negotiations will be of the type: “or we do it like this, or send everyone away. Choose”. Formal negotiating power will be balanced, However, the social basis of this negotiation will be extremely disadvantageous for workers.
Certainly the truth is not the monopoly of one, but justice should not be an oligopoly of a few. The government members managed to approve in the Chamber of Deputies the project that provides for the flexibility of the CLT (which now goes to the Senate), supporting part of the arguments presented above, while ignoring data (and then this government that is so sympathetic to numbers!) released by the São Paulo Municipal Labor Secretariat on 3 December, which point to a turnover rate in Brazil that reaches 40% per year.
Fortunately we live in a democratic country – or, at least that insists on democracy, even when some rulers prefer to impose their ideas and beliefs – and the discussion is still open. The vote in the Senate is unlikely to take place this year, so that Brazilian society gained more time to reflect and mature arguments on both sides. Even so, those who are concerned about the issue should be careful as, No brazil, from Christmas to Carnival, worries tend to change.
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magazine Author
Pol & iacute; tica
Yes I – N. 6 – December 2001
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