On Monday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) signed the bill that provides for the regulation of work by app companies. The bill, which only proposes regulating transportation in four-wheeled vehicles, was sent to the National Congress with constitutional urgency. That means the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate will each have 45 days to analyze the proposal.
At the signing ceremony, Lula said: "This is a very different day from others because, some time ago, nobody in this country believed that it would be possible to set up a negotiating table between workers and employers and that this negotiation would lead to a different organization in the world of work."
"Every time there is technological innovation, we think the world is going to end. Workers themselves try to organize and find a way to survive. (...) I'm not against retail workers working on Sundays. (...) The unions want people to have their working hours respected. What we are doing here is a lesson," said Lula. "You have just created a new form in the world of work."
Brazil’s Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho, said the bill was concluded after a series of “controversies” about whether to include or not app workers in the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT, in Portuguese).
"During the presidential campaign, Lula committed to working on a regulation [of app workers' activities]. But we never said whether it would or not be through the CLT because it's a process that's being debated at a new moment in the labor market and in terms of choice. We hear from app workers that they don't want to be covered by the CLT. But we also hear from some of them who would like to be covered by the CLT," said Marinho on Monday (4) during the bill signing ceremony at the Planalto Palace.
"The government organized and provoked a dialog between the parties. This dialog must continue. What is born here is an organization of a differentiated category, one that is autonomous and has rights."
Leandro Medeiros, president of the São Paulo State App Drivers' Union, considered positive the companies' presence at the negotiating table. "The companies have been in Brazil for ten years and haven't even called the union movement to discuss workers' lives. We will take a new step of regulation and respect for this class that was so important during the pandemic, bringing various categories to work," said Medeiros.
"Workers wanted freedom to work. Within the bill, we defend freedom of work. But we cannot leave 1,5 million workers in the lurch. The time has come for this regulation, to make it clear that they are fathers. They have families. They are not numbers. Unfortunately, in past governments, they weren't even invited to a conversation."
"Drivers are working with scrapped cars, unable to buy a new one because they come in with their labor and properties. After a few years, they don't even have the health or the assets to work. Many of them give up work and are left destitute," said the union president.
André Porto, executive director of the Brazilian Mobility and Technology Association (Amobitec, in Portuguese), who was also at the ceremony representing the companies, also celebrated the bill.
"We are aware that our participation in the process does not end here. With the same open and constructive spirit, we will be dialoguing with members of the legislature and all players in society who are influenced in one way or another by the proposed regulations so that we can move forward and, in the end, guarantee the implementation of fair and balanced regulations," said Porto.
"Currently, activities mediated by digital platforms provide income for more than 1,6 million families throughout Brazil. For sure, this number will increase. The proposal for a regulation that guarantees legal certainty for companies to continue investing and, at the same time, guarantees rights for app workers will certainly be a historic milestone for this industry in Brazil and an example for other countries."
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The initiative comes after the Ministry of Labor and Employment created, last year, a tripartite working group that studied the issue based on a dialog between representatives of management, companies and workers. After different approaches and still amid disagreements on the matter, the government abandoned the idea of arbitrating in favor of the Consolidation of Labor Laws for the segment.
Signing the bill
The proposal does not stipulate the inclusion of app workers in the CLT. Among the points of the proposal are the 8-hour workday, which can be extended to 12 hours if collectively agreed; a minimum wage of BRL 32.09 per hour worked, of which approximately BRL 8.02 relates to the work itself and BRL 24.07 to the driver's costs. The proposal also includes an annual readjustment, which must be made with a percentage equal to or greater than the readjustment of the national minimum wage.
Drivers can also work for more than one company without creating exclusivity. The proposal also provides for creating one union of self-employed workers for each app and an employers' union. One of the most controversial topics is the granting of benefits to workers, such as meal vouchers after the 6th hour of work and medical and dental services.
Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, in Portuguese) shows that the average income of app drivers in 2022 was BRL 2,454. That year, Brazil had at least 1.5 million app workers, of which 52.2% worked in passenger transportation, 39.5% in food and product delivery, and 13.2% in the provision of services.
Supreme Court discusses the topic
Regulations for app drivers are also a matter for Brazil’s Supreme Court. The Court is analyzing a lawsuit about the existence of an employment relationship between drivers and app companies.
The decision on whether there is an employment relationship will standardize how all legal disputes between these companies and app workers will be handled in the country, as most ministers decided last Wednesday (28).
The Supreme Court has repeatedly overturned labor court rulings recognizing the employment relationship between app workers and companies like Uber, iFood and 99. In practice, if the Court repeats its position in this case, drivers and delivery workers will no longer be able to win labor lawsuits.
The trial on the merits of the case has not yet been scheduled.
Edited by: Thalita Pires
