Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

The Committee notes the report sent by the Government, the comments made by the Inter-American Trade Union Institute for Racial Equality (INSPIR), received on 12 September 2002, and the Government’s reply thereto. It also notes a number of publications and reports, including statistical data.

1. Discrimination on grounds of race, colour and sex. The Committee notes the summary of the study "Social, racial and gender profile of management in large Brazilian companies", appended to the communication from INSPIR, alleging discrimination on grounds of race, sex and colour in executive posts and jobs that involve dealing with the public in sectors such as banking, hotels, airlines and shopping malls, where members of the black and mulatto population are employed only in cleaning and maintenance jobs. The Committee notes that according to the report submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW/C/BRA/1-5, 7 November 2002), Afro-descendants account for 70 per cent of the poorest segment of the population. The Committee also notes the information supplied in the Government’s report to the effect that the black population not only receives the lowest wages but often suffers discrimination in access to jobs and in employment relationships.

2. The Committee takes note of the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that in January 2003 a Secretariat for Racial Equality and a National Council to Combat Discrimination were created in the public administration for the purpose of proposing, monitoring and evaluating affirmative public policies for promoting equality and protecting the rights of individuals and social and ethnic groups affected by racial discrimination or other forms of intolerance. Although aware that the Government has undertaken numerous initiatives to apply a policy to combat discrimination, the Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the results of the measures and policies implemented in recent years to overcome discrimination in the labour market on grounds of race, colour and sex (Article 3(f) of the Convention).

3. The Committee notes the creation in 2002 of the Secretariat of State for Women’s Rights which has ministerial rank. It would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its future reports on the activities conducted by the abovementioned Secretariat to prevent discrimination on grounds of sex and to promote gender equality, including affirmative action in the area of access to education, training and employment.

4. The Committee notes INSPIR alleges that the measures the Government has taken since 1992 to overcome racial discrimination, including in the public sector, were not coordinated and effective enough to overcome racial and gender discrimination at work. The Committee notes that, according to INSPIR, despite the large amount of draft legislation designed to overcome racial discrimination, procedures are slow and the necessary government support is often lacking. The Committee reminds the Government that in the course of the examination of Brazil’s application of the Convention that took place in June 2002 in the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards, it was mentioned that black workers were disproportionately over-represented in the unskilled and informal economy and, contrariwise, were disproportionately under-represented in managerial positions, and that "no factor other than direct use of discriminatory criteria based on skin colour [could] explain the systematically unfavourable employment situation for black workers". The Committee again stresses that to be effective, the application of the Convention requires the adoption of active integration policies, such as setting aside posts in the public administration or making public assistance to private enterprises contingent on compliance with anti-discrimination rules, financing vocational training programmes to integrate persons excluded, or encouraging the incorporation of anti-discrimination provisions in collective agreements. The Committee trusts that in its next report the Government will provide information not only on the measures adopted or envisaged, but also on the impact of these measures in preventing the occurrence of discriminatory employment practices and encouraging the recruitment of members of the Afro-Brazilian and mulatto populations of both sexes in posts from which they have traditionally been excluded.

5. The Committee notes from the information sent by INSPIR that there are virtually no complaints of discrimination in state enterprises because employees fear losing their jobs. It also notes the information in the Government’s report to the effect that although there is widespread discrimination on grounds of race and colour, there are few complaints because the persons affected are unacquainted with the procedures and because of the difficulties of proving such practices. The Committee also notes that the units created to promote equal opportunities and combat discrimination increased their activities by 75 per cent between 2000 and 2002. The Committee trusts that the Government will take steps to avoid and discourage, both in the private sector and in the public sector, all forms of reprisals against persons submitting complaints of discrimination on grounds of race or colour; and that it will take measures to acquaint the black and mulatto populations with the procedures for lodging complaints of discriminatory conduct. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information in its next report on the complaints that have been filed for each of the grounds of discrimination referred to in Article 1 of the Convention, if possible indicating the sector or activity in which the cases occurred and the results obtained. The Committee trusts that the Government will continue its efforts to encourage greater participation by workers’ and employers’ organizations in the Units created in the various regions to promote equal opportunities and combat discrimination.

The Committee raises other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.