The revision of the NR36 and how it affects indigenous communities directly

In 2020, some ten to twenty thousand indigenous workers were employed in Brazil’s meatpacking plants. The NR36, a norm that regulates health and safety conditions in that industry, cannot be modified without first consulting the indigenous communities that will be affected by any proposed changes. However, indigenous activist and lawyer Fernanda Kaingáng told La Rel that this revision was presented out of the blue, without prior discussion, thus violating the obligation to consult the indigenous peoples concerned, as stipulated by ILO Convention 169.

“A huge success”

Walter Jonathan Bartholin Lillo, trabajador de Unilever-ID Logistic (subcontratada por Unilever), murió el 15 de junio producto de un grave accidente del trabajo durante su labor y la transnacional no se hace cargo del hecho ni lo ha comunicado formalmente. Es una de las consecuencias del proceso de externalización y precarización del trabajo emprendido desde hace tres años en Chile por la firma de origen angloholandés.

National strike in German meatpacking plants

Last April 7, in a meeting of European and Brazilian labor organizations that represent meat industry workers, Peter Schmidt, of the German Food, Beverages and Catering Union (Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten, NGG), declared: “Trade union actions against workforce casualization in meatpacking plants in Brazil and Germany are part of the same struggle.

Daily controls by the Federation to verify protocol compliance

On July 1st, the IUF’s Meat Industry Division held a teleconference with the participation of some 40 union leaders from the sector. Alberto Fantini, secretary general of Argentina’s Labor Federation of Meat and Meat Byproduct Industry Workers, reported on the situation in the sector and the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are the key points of his presentation.