The eight Trade Union Federations (CSP-Conlutas, CUT, Força Sindical, UGT, CGTB, NCST, CGTB, CTB and CSB), met on July 12th, made a positive assessmentof the actions carried out on July 11th, the «National Day of Strikes, Work Stoppages and Demonstrations”. Therefore, they have convened a new «National Day of Work Stoppage», scheduled for August 30th. The goal is to press President Dilma to meet the workers’ demands.
According to José Maria de Almeida who, along with Atnágoras Lopes, was representing the CSP-Conlutas, «the settingof this call is very important because, as it was showed in the strength of the demonstrations that took place in almost every State of the country on last July 11th, the working class is willing and is going to keep pressure on the government”. According to the leader, «Dilma eithermeets the workers’ demands until that day or the national strike can be a pathway to a general strike in Brazil”.
Far beyond the more than 50 blocked roads in several regions of Brazil, during the protests of July 11th, the assessment of all the Trade Union Federations have given emphasis to the millions of workers who stopped work, staged strikes and promoted the production stoppage of various sectors of the industry, commerce and services, like the automakers’ steelworkers of São José dos Campos, Minas Gerais, São Paulo State, São Paulo city, and ABC Region, Santos and Rio Grande do Sul; Civil Construction workers of Fortaleza, Belém and São Paulo, besides commercial workers and workers in the transportation sectors in some cities, civil servant of Paraná State, among others. For the several representatives of Trade Union Federations, the working class has joined strongly in defense of their demands and this was a key element. The participating organizations also highlighted the actions of social movements, especially the MST (Landless Workers Movement).
The CSP-Conlutas proposed to define at that moment the call for a general strike to be held on August 30th. However such a proposal was not accepted by the other Trade Union Federations. At the end, they all agreed with the call to the National Day of Work Stoppage scheduled for August 30th. Until then, the Trade Union Federations are going to require a meeting with President Dilma to, once again, demand her meeting with the unitary agenda of workers’ demands: price reduction and better quality of public transportation, more investment in public health and education, the end of the social security factor and an increase in the monthly value of pensions, reduction of the working hours without pay cuts, the end of the oil reserves’ auctions; against the PL 4330 (on outsourcing), Land Reform.
Zé Maria has further asserted that it is important that the Trade Union Federations follow in oneness to boot these conquests for Brazilian workers. However, the leader has made a weighting: «To conquer our claims we have to face the governments, starting with President Dilma who not only refuses to meet our agenda, but also continues applying a policy that serves only to the interests of the capital. Just look the maintenance of the Primary Budget Surplus, the sending of hundred billion of our public money every year to pay the public debt interest, the payroll exemption to businessmen, the interest rates increase, the privatizations, etc…” he highlighted. The leader also said that, in this battle, the trade unions must be on one side, i.e. the side of the working class against the bosses and the government. «We must continue with the demonstrations, we must carry out the States protests, prepare the national day of work stoppage and we must also start building the conditions to conduct a general strike in the country”, concluded Zé Maria.
The Trade Union Federations have also established that they are going toask for a meeting with the President of the TST (Higher Labour Court) in order to discuss about the attacks against the trade union movement, the so called «prohibitory interdict», with convictions and fines imposed on the trade union movement. On July 11th, dozens of preliminary injunctions, with imposition of fines of hundreds of thousands of reais (R$) have been granted at the request of government institutions, against several Trade Union Federations. Representatives of Trade Union Federations were outraged at it. It was also defined that on August 6th a protest would be held in the States and in the Federal District (Brasilia) against the PL 4330.
Source: http://cspconlutas.org.br/
