Examples of trade union use of the Committee on the Application of Standards
labor reform of 2017, carried out without any social dialogue with the representative national trade union organizations. The reform altered more than 100 provisions of the country’s labor code, the ‘Consolidation of Labor Laws’, weakening the legal guarantees to minimum labor rights, the exercise of trade union freedom, and access to justice. Among these provisions is the possibility of derogations that reduce labor rights through collective bargaining. At the 2018 Conference, the Committee on the Application of Standards14 revised the observation issued by the Committee of Experts in its 2018 Report,15 where the radical nature of Brazil's labor reform was noted and where it was pointed out that generally allowing the protections established by the legislation to derogate from the rights set out in the law by means of collective bargaining is contrary to the principle of free and voluntary negotiation provided for in Convention 98. In its 2019 Annual Report,16 the Committee of Experts followed up on Brazil's reforms and reaffirmed the incompatibility of Convention 98 with the possibility of derogating rights set out in the labor law by means of collective bargaining. The Brazilian State was included twice in a row in the short list of the Committee on the Application of Standards and is currently subject to the tracking of the ILO Committee of Experts.
5.2.2. Standard Setting Committee The Standard Setting Committee is the tripartite committee of the Conference where new international labor standards are prepared, within the framework of the double or single discussion procedure, with a view to the adoption of a Convention and/or a Recommendation and/or a Protocol. Trade union work in the Conference's Standard Setting Committee is connected to several stages of the drafting of new standards in which trade unions can have an impact:
(1) Governing Body: Trade unions can participate in the discussion and decision on the registration of the Conference agenda item with a view to the adoption of a new standard-setting instrument through the Workers’ group of the Governing Body. (2) Comments on the reports of the International Labour Office National trade unions may submit comments on the issues indicated in the reports prepared by the Office under the double or single
14. The proceedings of the 2018 Conference Committee on the Application of Standards are available here: https:// www.ilo.org/global/standards/applying-and-promoting-international-labour-standards/conference-committee-on-the-application-of-standards/WCMS_643937/lang--en/index.htm 15. Commission of Experts. Annual Report 2018. Available in this link: http://www.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/ P/09661/09661(2018-107-A).pdf 16. Commission of Experts. Annual Report 2019. Available in this link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_670146.pdf
PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TRADE UNION ACTION AT THE ILO
37
