Health sector and trade union training [302]

Country/ Region	Brazil
Project Period	2006-2008 (The project has ended.)
Partners and target groups	Public Services International (PSI), PSI's member unions in the Brazilian health care sector CNTSS and CNTS, Finnish Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy). The target groups are the health sector's trade unions and employers, union leaders, and collective bargaining negotiators.
Background and justification	Brazil has not ratified the rights to negotiate and strike in the public sector that have been accepted by the labour organisation ILO, but cooperation between labour market parties has achieved norms that regulate the negotiations and written directions regarding occupational health services. Trade union activists now need training to develop their ability to negotiate because they have no prior experience in this field.
Objectives	The project's long-term objective is to achieve a situation in which public sector employees’ rights have been written into the Constitution. The goal of the project is to strengthen the ability of health sector unions to negotiate contracts; cooperation between labour market parties has increased and the organisational structures of unions has changed to meet structural changes in public sector administration. Training activities in aim to create a situation in which project unions in at least 5 states and 15 municipalities are recognised as bargaining partners, and negotiations on working conditions and wages are carried out bilaterally.
Project activities	One joint seminar for Mercosur labour market parties is held annually on participation systems in working life, and there are also national-level seminars. In the trainings and seminars health sector unions’ contract negotiators receive education to make them more prepared with regards to both content and negotiation techniques. Unions in the sector are lobbying members of the national parliament and other decision-makers to guarantee the right to negotiate established in the ILO normatives in the public sector. As part of the project, a bill concerning the issue was formulated and a group of members of parliament introduced it for debate. Brazilian unions make active use of both Tehy and other countries’ experiences with contract systems and organisational models. The project activities prepare contract negotiators to negotiate as well as plan and execute changes in organisational structure. Training material is also produced for use in the negotiators' training sessions for education in the unions. Organisations in the health sector have embarked on the process of changing organisational structures. Unions have also actively lobbied members of parliament to accept a private member’s bill that would guarantee negotiating rights. Public sector unions are attempting to persuade the government to support the private member’s bill on negotiating rights that is being discussed in parliament. The project also supports the bargaining capacity of negotiation groups with regards to state and regional contracting activity. The intention is that by the end of the project all the states’ health sector unions’ representatives would have the same abilities to attend negotiations and common goals would have been set. A joint seminar was arranged in 2008 for Mercosur countries’ unions and government representatives to assist cooperative efforts to develop contractual activity with regards to working life. Participants shared their experiences of contract systems and education with the intention of harmonising the public sector occupational contract organisations through cooperation between workers and employers. The project has ended in 2008.