Social Rights

Article 6. Education, health, food, work, housing, leisure, security, social security, protection of motherhood and childhood, and assistance to the destitute are social rights, as set forth by this Constitution.

Article 7. The following are rights of urban and rural workers, among others that aim to improve their social conditions:

1. employment protected against arbitrary dismissal or against dismissal without just cause, in accordance with a supplementary law which shall establish severance-pay, among other rights;
2. unemployment insurance, in the event of involuntary unemployment;
3. severance-pay fund;
4. nationally unified minimum monthly wage, established by law, capable of satisfying their basic living needs and those of their families with housing, food, education, health, leisure, clothing, hygiene, transportation, and social security, with periodical adjustments to maintain its purchasing power, it being forbidden to use itas an index for any purpose;
5. a salary floor in proportion to the extent and complexity of the work;
6. irreducibility of the wages, except when established in collective agreement or covenant;
7. guarantee of wages never below the minimum one, for those receiving variable pay
8. year-end one-salary bonus based on the full pay or on the amount of the pension
9. payrate for night-shift work higher than that for daytime work
10. wage protection, as provided by law, with felonious withholding of wages being a crime
11. participation in the profits or results, independent of wages, and, exceptionally, participation in the management of the company, as defined by law;
12. family allowance paid to each dependent of low-income workers, under the terms of the law
13. normal working hours not exceeding eight hours per day and forty-four hours per week, with the option of compensating working hours and reducing the length of the workday through an agreement or a collective bargaining covenant;
14. a workday of six hours for work carried out in continuous shifts, unless otherwise established by collective bargaining
15. paid weekly leave, preferably on Sundays; work;
16. rate of pay for overtime at least fifty per cent higher than that of normal
17. annual vacation with remuneration at least one third higher than the normal salary;
18. maternity leave without loss of job and of salary, for a period of one hundred and twenty days;
19. paternity leave, under the terms established by law;
20. protection of the labour market for women through specific incentives, as provided by law;
21. advance notice of dismissal in proportion to the length of service, of at least thirty days, as provided by law;
22. reduction of employment related risks by means of health, hygiene and safety rules;
23. additional remuneration for strenuous, unhealthy or dangerous work, as established by law;
24. retirement pension;
25. free assistance for children and dependents of up to five years of age, in day-care centres and pre-school facilities;
26. recognition of collective bargaining agreements and covenants;
27. protection on account of automation, as established by law;

28. occupational accident insurance, to be paid for by the employer, without
    

excluding the employer’s liability for indemnity in the event of malice or fault; 29. legal action, with respect to credits arising from employment relationships, with a limitation of five years for urban and rural workers, up to the limit of two years after the end of the employment contract 30. prohibition of any difference in wages, in the performance of duties and in hiring criteria by reason of sex, age, colour or marital status 31. prohibition of any discrimination with respect to wages and hiring criteria of handicapped workers 32. prohibition of any distinction between manual, technical, and intellectual work or among the respective professionals 33. prohibition of night, dangerous, or unhealthy work for minors under 18 years of age, and of any work for minors under sixteen years of age, except as an apprentice, for minors above 14 years of age 34. equal rights for workers with a permanent employment bond and for sporadic workers.

The category of domestic servants is ensured of the rights set forth in items IV, VI, VIII, XV, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXI and XXIV, as well as of integration in the social security system.

Article 8. Professional or union association is free, with regard for the following:

1. the law may not require authorization of the State for a union to be founded, except for authorization for registration with the competent agency, it being forbidden to the Government the interference and the intervention in the union
2. it is forbidden to create more than one union, at any level, representing a professional or economic category, in the same territorial base, which shall be defined by the workers or employers concerned, which base may not cover less than the area of one municipality;
3. it falls to the union to defend the collective or individual rights and interests of the category, including legal or administrative disputes;
4. the general assembly shall establish the contribution which, in the case of a professional category, shall be discounted from the payroll, to support the confederative system of the respective union representation, regardless of the contribution set forth by law;
5. no one shall be required to join or to remain a member of a union
6. the collective labour bargainings must be held with the participation of unions;
7. retired members shall be entitled to vote and be voted on in unions;
8. the dismissal of a unionised employee is forbidden from the moment of the registration of his candidacy to a position of union direction or representation and, if elected, even if as a substitute, up to one year after the end of his term in office, unless he commits a serious fault as established by law.

The provisions of this article apply to the organization of rural unions and those of fishing communities, with due regard for the conditions established by law.

Article 9. The right to strike is guaranteed, it being the competence of the workers to decide on the advisability of exercising it and on the interests to be defended thereby.

Paragraph 1. The law shall define the essential services or activities and shall provide with respect to the satisfaction of the community’s undelayable needs.

Paragraph 2. The abuses committed shall subject those responsible to the penalties of the law.

Article 10. The participation of workers and employers is ensured in the collegiate bodies of government agencies in which their professional or social security interests are subject of discussion and resolution.

Article 11. It is ensured, in companies with more than 200 employees, the election of a representative of the employees for the exclusive purpose of furthering direct negotiations with the employers.