Pedro Peduzzi Reporter Agência Brasil
Brasília – Against a background of serious labor problems at the Jirau hydroelectric power plant construction site (located in the Amazon jungle near the border with Bolivia in the state of Rondônia), representatives of workers and civil construction companies met on April 18 at the Brazilian Civil Construction Chamber (“Cbic”) to discuss proposals that will be presented to the government.
“These jobs, that are part of the government’s Accelerated Growth Program (“PAC”), are very different from regular construction work in urban areas,” explained Antônio Carlos Mendes Gomes, the president of the Labor Relations Commission (“Comissão de Políticas de Relações Trabalhistas”) at Cbic. “The problems that have occurred at Jirau and Santo Antonio (another power plant also located in the state of Rondonia) stem from the fact that the area is isolated and remote. Workers come from other regions of the country. They are confined at the construction site and that can be a heavy emotional load for some of them even when their accommodations are good. Construction firms must invest in leisure activities. That is good money spent to avoid bad losses in the future.”
Gomes says that progress has been made in dealing with the problem of subcontractors. “Big companies now operate more like assembly lines. They contract specialists for specific jobs. That reduces costs and as professionals are hired the quality of the work is high. The company is more productive and more jobs are created,” he said.
“The problems occur when a construction company tries to cut corners and reduce costs. That is the reason subcontracting should be subject to close oversight,” declared Gomes.
Labor representatives insist that the main contractor be held responsible for subcontractors. “Punishment for errors should fall directly on the principal contractor. If subterfuges are possible, if a small, irresponsible firm can take the blame and let the big guys off the hook, then it will not work,” says Luiz Carlos José de Queiroz, a director of the National Confederation of Construction Workers (“Confederação Nacional dos Sindicatos de Trabalhadores na Indústria da Construção Civil e Madeira - Conticom”), one of six labor union representatives that participated in the meeting.
“At the moment, we are drawing up regulations (“portaria normativa”) for subcontracting, which will be delivered to the Ministry of Labor. We are working to identify points of consensus among the labor unions and contractors so that we can come up with positive solutions and avoid problems similar to those that occurred in Rondônia,” concluded Gomes.
Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English
Link - Trabalhadores e empreiteiros buscam propostas conjuntas para grandes obras do PAC
