Brazil proposes “modern slavery� rural labor reform that could deny workers salary

[singermelodie1]

After approving Temer’s controversial labor reform, Brazil’s Lower House discusses another bill that has citizens decrying “modern slaveryâ€. The rural labor reform proposed would allow producers to replace workers’ salaries with crops or land. Moreover, the bill would limit the powers of the Labor Court and Labor Prosecutor.

Congressman Nilson Leitão (PSDB-MT) defended the bill as a way to formalize irregular work in the fields. However, the bill suggests allowing producers to take food and housing out of workers’ salaries. Furthermore, instead of even paying a salary, producers could lend out pieces of land for the worker to harvest. The practice resembles almost to a tee the exploitations of slavery.

Following the logic of the general labor reform, Leitão’s bill also gives producer-laborer contract negotiations judicial precedence over labor law. Labor organizations worry that such agreements would ultimately harm the laborers, who may agree to any conditions in desperation for work. Meanwhile, the bill’s supporters believe that the reform would regulate and stimulate more employment.

The text also sets a 44-hour workweek, which allows for four hours overtime. In addition, the bill requires workers to have an hour rest for every six hours of work. Workers can also work up to 18 days without a day of rest, including weekends and holidays. However, the bill also allows producers to bend the rest requirement according to their needs.

The bill would revoke the current health and safety regulations for rural work set by the Labor Ministry. Brazil’s Lower House will create a special commission to assess Leitão’s bill within the next weeks.

Pension debt

Meanwhile, the agribusiness sector faces $3.17 billion in producers’ debt. The money was meant to pay for their rural workers’ pensions. The government is proposing to lower the social security contribution rate required for producers.

However, those in debt will continue paying 1 percentage higher until their debt is paid off. Meanwhile, the Rural Workers Assistance Fund will have to pay off the billion-dollar debt.

Agribusiness executives have questioned the judicial injunctions over late pension payments for years. The Supreme Federal Court (STF) eventually quelled about 15,000 cases and set a billion-dollar debt amount for producers to pay off.

 

 

 

source: http://plus55.com/brazil-business/2017/05/brazil-modern-slavery-rural-labor-reform

[Kami Love]

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Temer is the brazilian Trump