The Teamsters’ strike needs to be surrounded with solidarity!
By PSTU-Brazil.
The Teamsters’ strike reached its 8th day on Monday [today, it has been going on for 11 days], stopping the country and counting with wide support by the population. The mobilization put the Temer government against the wall and confronts the military intervention decreed by the government. The refineries are occupied by the Army and the PM continues repressing the Teamsters and demonstrators in several cities, like in San Bernardo do Campo, where a helicopter threw gas bombs over the base in Imigrantes.
The demonstrations are encouraging the struggle of other sectors that depend on fuel, like motoboys [motorcycle drivers], van drivers and taxi drivers, mounting barricades and blocking transit spontaneously, and also facing a harsh repression by the Military Police.
Petrobras oil workers are organizing and triggering stoppages, through the rank and file, in refineries and bases. The organizations of the industry, because of this pressure, called a 72h strike starting on Wednesday 30, in support of the Teamsters and against the policy of privatization of the company.
The Teamsters’ strike is a trigger to the major outrage growing from below, among workers and the poor population, expanding its list of demands to beyond the fuel price, and posing this hateful government as the central target.
Mobilization grows after Temer’s announcement
The Temer government, completely demoralized, made concessions announcing measures like the reduction of 46 cents for a liter of diesel for 60 days. But instead of ending the mobilization or weaken it, the blockades and demonstrations just grew and radicalized.
Not only no one believes in this government, as the temporary measures announced do not resolve the problem at all. The diesel price will continue increasing every month, and the fuel and kitchen gas will remain as they are today.
This is because the government does everything it can to leave the oil price readjustment policy intact, aligned to the international market. This policy, serving the privatization of Petrobras, is causing absurd rises in fuel and kitchen gas prices in favor of the profit of half a dozen investors in New York.
General Strike Now!
It is necessary to surround the strike and mobilization of Teamsters and oil workers with active solidarity. It is necessary to fight for 100% State Petrobras under workers’ control instead of corrupt ones. Only like that the fuel and kitchen gas prices will reduce.
We need to organize demonstrations and stoppages where we can, uniting the struggle for reduction of fuel prices and nationalization of Petrobras to all other struggles. It is time for a General Strike to unify the struggle of workers and the poor population in the country, for the reduction of fuel and kitchen gas prices, but also against massive unemployment, to revoke the labor reform, and against any attempt to touch our Social Security.
However, the leadership of the main Unions, like the CUT, Força Sindical and UGT, not only do not call a General Strike as they remain at disposal to negotiate the Teamsters’ strike. In other words, they work only to end the strike. These leaders should change their shameful stand and follow the call made by CSP-Conlutas to declare a General Strike, taking the government down together with this corrupt National Congress.
NO to military intervention!
Before the capitulation of great part of the left and the refusal by most Federations in calling a General Strike, many people are vulnerable to the speech of military intervention. Despite not being a majority, it reaches a few segments. On Monday night, for example, 200 people demonstrated in the Paulista Avenue, and a small group also demonstrated in the Esplanade [Brasilia].
It is necessary to fight this speech harshly, showing that under a dictatorship, the Teamsters’ strike would only be repressed and their leaders would go to jail. Teamsters, motoboys and oil workers are seeing, in practice, the effects of a “military intervention,” with the repression. Bolsonaro himself, that uses this type of rhetoric, supported the strike opportunistically, as he is the author of a bill project to punish “public obstruction” with 4 years. If it was for him, Teamsters would all be in jail now.
This country needs a rebellion! Power to workers and poor people!
This country needs a rebellion! Only a revolution and socialist, workers’ government that rules through popular councils can change the workers’ and poor people lives in fact.
