Article 390 Ter Federal Labor Law

For the registration of an initial collective contract or a revision agreement, the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration shall verify that its content is approved by the majority of the employees covered by it through the personal, free and secret vote. The procedure of consultation of the employees shall be carried out in accordance with the following:

I.Once the terms of the initial collective contract or of the respective revision agreement have been agreed with the employer, the labor union that has the representation of the employees shall give notice to the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration, in writing or electronically, that it will submit to consultation of the employees the approval of the content of the contract. The notice must be made at least ten days in advance of the holding of the consultation.

The notice referred to in the preceding paragraph shall state the day, hour and place at which the consultation of the employees will be carried out by personal, free and secret vote, and must attach a copy of the contract or negotiated agreement signed by the parties. Likewise, the labor union must issue the corresponding call, stating the place, day and hour at which the voting must take place; the call shall be issued at least ten days in advance of it, without exceeding fifteen days;

II.The consultation procedure carried out with the employees must cover the following requirements:

a)The labor union must timely make available to the employees a printed or electronic copy of the initial collective contract or of the revision agreement that will be submitted to consultation;

b)The voting shall be carried out on the day, hour and place stated in the call;

c)It shall be guaranteed that the place designated for the voting is accessible to the employees and meets the necessary conditions so that they cast their vote in a free, peaceful, agile and secure manner, without being able to be coerced in any way;

d)The employer may not have any intervention during the consultation procedure;

e)The result of the voting shall be published by the union board in visible and easily accessible places of the workplace and in the corresponding union premises within a term no greater than two days from the date on which the consultation is held;

f)The labor union shall give notice of the result of the voting to the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration within the three business days following the date on which the consultation is held, so that said Center publishes it on its Internet site.

The notice indicated in the preceding paragraph shall be made under protest of telling the truth. In case of existing inconsistencies in relation to substantive facts of the process, the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration shall declare the consultation null and shall order its repetition;

g)The voting records shall be safeguarded for five years to prove compliance with this obligation, for purposes of verification by the labor or registration authority. The promoting labor union must state under protest of telling the truth that it complied with this obligation, and

h)The Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration may verify that the consultation procedure is carried out in accordance with the requirements set forth above;

III.If it has the majority support of the employees for the content of the agreement, the following shall apply:

a)For initial collective employment contracts, the labor union shall proceed to make the registration request before the Registration Authority in accordance with the provisions of Article 390 of this Law, and

b)For revision agreements or modifications of the collective employment contract, the provisions of Article 399 Ter shall apply;

IV.In the event that the initial collective employment contract or the revision agreement does not have the majority support of the employees covered by it, the labor union may:

a)Exercise its right to strike, in the event that it has promoted the corresponding strike notice, and

b)Extend or lengthen the pre-strike period with the object of continuing with the negotiation and submitting the agreement to a new consultation, observing the provisions of section V of Article 927 of this Law.

In the consultation procedure provided in this article, the personal, free and secret vote of the employees shall be exercised individually and directly.