Members of PSTU refuse to participate of pro-Lula event and turn their back to the former president in CNTE Congress.
PSTU Militants Leave Plenary Chanting “Out With Temer, Out With All Of Them!”
The leadership of CNTE [Nacional Confederation of Education Workers] tried to turn the opening of its 33 National Congress, on Thursday 12, in Brasilia, into a major electoral event in support of Lula and the PT. Without consulting the rank and file, the leadership of the entity, the current Artsind [linked to the PT] invited Lula to make the central speech. Against that, the PSTU militants present at the plenary turned their backs to the former president and left, chanting “Out With Temer, Out With All of Them!”.
“We turned our backs and left because we think that was wrong. We were not consulted, and even if we were we would have not agreed with that, because of the political balance of Lula and the PT administration, including its policy for education” explains Janaína Rodrigues, member of PSTU and CSP-Conlutas. “Lula, like Dilma, gave priority to the profits of bankers and masters of private education instead of to free, public education”, she adds.
Other sectors of CSP-Conlutas had already refused to participate of the plenary.
Debates
In the core of such attempt of transforming the opening of a Congress of education workers into an electoral event there is the policy of Artsind of tying organizations and a congress which are a united front for struggle of the movement to the PT and Lula’s candidature. They did so before when they were in power. It is not by chance that one of the main points of the agenda was the balance of PT terms regarding education.
“While Artsind tries to convince us that during Lula’s and Dilma’s governments there were significant advances in public education, the sectors organized in CSP-Conlutas affirm the PT terms served the decline of public education in favor of bankers, besides making prevail the profit of big companies involved in private education” says Janaína. Attacks that Temer’s government continues and deepen.
Consequent with this policy, Artsind defends there was a “coup” against Dilma and cries for “democracy”, what is reflected in the slogan they raise, “Direct Elections Now”, trying to subject the construction of a General Strike to this policy. It is a twisted way of defending the PT and driving an electoral campaign in favor of Lula, and in practice it goes against the possibility of constructing a real General Strike to stop and defeat Temer’s reforms.
“We defend the CNTE to play the role it did not during the last year because of being part of the PT government’s base. This means to be a pole capable of unifying the struggle against Temer and in defense of a General Strike against the Social Security reform, the labor reform and every attack of this government and the National Congress to the workers”, explains the teacher.
“On the contrary of what the defenders of Lula’s candidature for 2018 claim, the PSTU defends the struggle and organization of workers around a General Strike to defeat not only the attacks but also the attackers”, states Janaína, “like Temer and this National Congress”.
