The Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided to modulate the decision that required prior negotiation between companies and unions in cases of mass layoffs. According to the decision, the mandatory union intervention applies only to dismissals that took place after June 14, 2022, the date on which the minutes of the judgment were published.
The restriction was defined in a virtual trial, finalized yesterday (12). The ministers analyzed an appeal filed to clarify the decision. By a majority of votes, the understanding of Minister Luís Roberto Barroso prevailed. For him, the retroactive application of the thesis would be disproportionate to employers because there is no express command in law to impose validity in all cases. Barroso mentioned that the process began to be analyzed in 2013 and was finalized only in 2022.
On June 8, 2022, justices finalized the judgment of a lawsuit in which the Brazilian Aeronautical Company (Embraer) contested a decision of the Superior Labor Court (TST) that confirmed the mandatory collective bargaining in these cases. In 2009, around four thousand workers were dismissed by the company.
Through the decision, it was defined that “prior union intervention is an essential procedural requirement for the mass dismissal of workers”.
