TST will define how workers can reject charges to unions

The problem has been ongoing since September last year, when the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruled that the collection of so-called welfare contributions for workers in a category — whether or not they are affiliated with the respective union — is constitutional, as long as employees can oppose to her.

Since then, workers have complained that some unions are making opposition difficult. There are cases in which category representatives communicate a few days in advance the place and time to formalize the cancellation of the contribution or even provide tight time windows for employees to attend.

Labor lawyer Lilian Lourenço Santana says that today each union ends up deciding how employees can reject the salary discount — and that it is necessary to have objective and reasonable parameters for the right to object to be exercised.

“We are living in a limbo in which there is arbitrariness, because those who are interested will put up obstacles, so that things happen the way they intend”, he assesses.

Specialist in labor law, lawyer Gilmar Júnior, from Lara Martins, explains that the impasse is close to a solution.

“The TST’s decision will be on this form of opposition, because it is usually being treated as a personal and written communication within a period of 15 days from the signing of the convention and publication — and that doesn’t seem right to me, because not everyone has access to this. That the charge is valid for non-union members is uncontroversial.

Given the high volume of disputes surrounding the subject, the TST accepted a proposal to establish the so-called Repetitive Demand Resolution Incident (IRDR) — a legal instrument that guarantees the same understanding on a recurring issue in the courts.

The TST suspended all labor actions that address how unaffiliated workers should exercise their right to object. After the trial, the lower labor courts must follow the same understanding as the TST, recalls Gilmar Júnior.

“The suspension is to standardize. When an IRDR is established in a court, it is because there is a lot of demand on the same subject and divergent decisions are coming out within the court itself. So, it will paralyze everything. All the ministers will sit down and they will make a definitive decision that the classes will have to follow”, explains

Bill allows workers to reject contributions to unions via email and WhatsApp

Queues to cancel contributions to unions are repeated across the country