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Last
August 23, delegates from the various trade unions representing meatpacking
workers met in Curitiba to discuss possible actions in support of the adoption
of the Regulating Standard proposed for the sector, while it is still under
public consultation.
SIREL
spoke with the president of Brazil’s National Confederation of Food Workers
(CONTAC), Siderlei Silva de Olivera, who reported that the outcome of the
meeting had been positive.
“The
unions met to discuss the strategy they will be deploying while the regulating
standard is still in the public consultation stage. For the time being, the
opinion is that the standard contemplates the main issues that have to do with
improving working conditions in the sector.”
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Management
is pressuring the government to eliminate the items that workers
consider most important. |
“However,” Siderlei continued, “management is pressuring the authorities
to eliminate from the standard the items that are most important to workers,
such as the limitation of the time workers are exposed to hazardous work and the
establishment of mandatory breaks for those who perform repetitive tasks, among
other issues.”
“Which is why we’re discussing a plan of action to ensure that the content of
the final document has a favorable effect on working conditions in meatpacking
plants.”
This
first meeting was very positive and the workers have schedule their next meeting
for September 8 in Porto Alegre. According to Siderlei, at that next
meeting they will have more information from the public consultation process,
which will allow them to fine tune the actions they plan to implement.
“We’ll be evaluating the possibility of conducting a strong media campaign,
including street signs, newspaper ads and radio and television announcements, to
promote the adoption of the regulating standard, which will then be submitted
again to the Permanent Joint Tripartite Commission -where I participate-, for a
final revision before it is adopted by the Ministry of Labor,” Siderlei
concluded.
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