The Senate approved the project that establishes a registry of Organizations of Workers and Employers before the Ministry of Labor.
He Senate approved this Tuesday, with votes from the representatives of the Multicolor Coalitionthe project of legal personality lawwhich establishes the creation of a register of Organizations of Workers and Employers before the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS).
The four-article project promoted by the MTSS itself had already been voted on at the end of 2021 in the Chamber of Deputies. During today’s session, senators from Town meeting They presented two additives referring to the elimination of the automatic discount of the union dues, and the secret vote of the unions, which were not taken into account by the body.
This law, titled “Legal Status of Professional Organizations”, will impose a “structural” change in what refers to “collective labor relations in favor of responsibility and transparency”, since in the current regime in force “unions and business chambers can interact with each other and with third parties, without the need to have legal status”, according to Pérez del Castillo & Asociados.
In the civil sphere, “the lack of legal status prevents them from arranging legal transactions, such as renting a place or opening a bank account”, something that generates that the leaders themselves are the ones who arrange legal transactions in a personal capacity“. According to the lawyer, Matias Perez del Castillowithin the unions”It is common for them to receive the membership fees of union members in their personal accounts“.
How will it impact companies from its entry into force?
According to the document, companies based in Uruguay:
- They must continue to withhold union dues of the affiliated workers and pouring it into the union account.
- Will be able exchange “necessary” information within the framework of collective bargaining.
- Will be able arrange civil business and claim them directly compensation for damages generated by illegitimate measures.
How should companies act against unions without legal status?
- They are not obliged to withhold or pour the union dues of their affiliates.
- They are not obliged to deliver “necessary” information during negotiations, and the option of arranging business and legally claiming compensation for damages must be assessed in relation to natural persons.
What the new law establishes, according to Pérez del Castillo
- The law establishes that obtaining legal status is optional. In light of the principles of the ILO (International Labor Organization), this is adequate, because it prevents the risk that a requirement in this aspect could operate as an obstacle to trade union activity.
- Only organizations with legal status will be capable of rights and obligations under the terms of art. 21 of Civil Codeand may appear in court and enter into any type of act and contract (with the exception of those of natural persons, or those involving the exercise of activities subject to special authorizations).
- Only organizations with legal status may require the receipt of necessary information within the framework of collective bargaining (Law No. 18,566), and in the case of unions, only those with legal status may require the employer to withhold and deposit the union dues of its affiliates (Law No. 17,940).
- In order to grant legal status, a series of requirements are required that must be accredited before the MTSS through a simple and summary procedure, which ensures effective procedures that do not constitute impediments.
- is anticipated a transition period of 180 days since the promulgation of the law, so that professional organizations can obtain legal status without being affected by the new rules.
The PIT-CNT sees the legal status law as “an anti-union attack”
For the executive secretariat of the PIT-CNT the law of legal personality occurs in a context of “major anti-union attack in both the public and private sectors”.
According to the trade union center, the text approved by parliament is aligned with the ILO parameters “which establishes that governments have the obligation to respect the independence of unions with respect to the State, employers and political parties”.
However, they point out that it isasymmetric”, by generating only “obligations for the unions”, but not for “the business union person”, nor establishing sanctions when “a business chamber does not comply with the criteria of providing the necessary information to promote collective bargaining”.
Source: Ambito
