InternationalSocialistLeague
ISL Public meeting Support Brazilian national action 11 July Fight austerity in Brazil and Britain How 1000s, then 1,000,000s of Brazilian youth and workers mobilised and forced the national and state governments to reverse the increase in bus and train fares...and why. Speakers: Marcos Margarido, Brazilian PSTU and former oil worker A speaker from the fight against austerity in Britain
7pm Thursday 11 July Caledonia Pub Catherine Street Brazilian Labour Federations Call For Nationwide Day of Action on 11 July Dirceu Travesso, CSP-Conlutas, Brazil
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n the 25 June seven Brazilian labour federations – CUT, Força Sindical, CSP-Conlutas, CTB, UGT, NovaCentral and CGTB – called for a day of action on 11 July. Demands include more funding for public services: healthcare and education; better wages; shorter working hours; stop the bill to legalise outsourcing; stop the new oil fields auctions / oppose privatisations; land reform; reversal of cut in retirement benefits (“Fator Previdenciário”); and good and cheaper public transport. On 6 June, 5,000 protestors, primarily the youth, gathered to oppose the bus, train and tube fare increase in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. They faced strong police repression, but larger mobilisations were carried out on 7, 11 and then on the 13 June 15,000 were attacked by rubber bullets, bombs and tear gas launched by riot police squads. Hundreds were injured, including seven journalists from daily newspapers, and nearly 200 were arrested. Shocking images were transmitted across the
country that led to a huge increase in numbers protesting, the numbers of cities where protests were held and a wide expansion of the demands. In 17 June, 100,000 protested in Sao Paulo, another 100,000 in Rio de Janeiro, and there were large demos in all other major state capitals. The national Parliament in Brasilia was occupied by 1000s. Three days later more than a million demonstrated in 300 cities across the nation. The first gains soon emerged. In addition to the right to demonstrate free of police brutality, transport fares were decreased or had their increases cancelled in many cities, including Sao Paulo. The Brazilian Senate is about to pass a bill establishing free transport for students nationwide.
Transport fares are not the only demand on the protest agenda. Widespread dissatisfaction with expensive and lavish football stadiums for the world cup are connected to poor quality public services: healthcare and education. Other critical issues are corruption, gay/black/women’s rights, affordable housing and police brutality. This week, other gains were won in the streets. All royalties from the new oil fields along the Brazilian coast will be delivered to public education and healthcare. The bill PEC 37, meant to hinder investigation of corruption by public prosecutors, was defeated. Other concessions are on the way.
From 6 to 13 June, the demands were placed against Fernando Haddad and Geraldo Alckmin. Haddad is the recently elected mayor of São Paulo and a member of the PT (Workers Party). Alckmin is the rightwing governor of São Paulo. Bus fares are the mayor’s responsibility. The governor is responsible for tube and train fares, and police actions. Together they announced transport fare increases from R$ 3 to R$ 3,20 (nearly one pound each trip). After the protests spread throughout the country and became national and a plurality of demands were raised, all national and state administrations were targeted particularly the president of Brazil, Dilma Roussef. Dissatisfaction against her administration accumulated. The polls prior to the protests showed a steep decrease of her support across all sectors of the Brazilian population. There is a general perception that living conditions are getting worse, and will not improve. On top of that, top politicians’ corruption scandals, like mensalão, meant all rightwing parties and the PT are seen as bankrupt institutions. Fighting for hearts and minds The wave of mobilisations that emerged were out of control of both the bourgeois parties and the PT. The main labour federation, the CUT, and the main student association, the UNE, are literally absent from the protests. The first reaction from both bourgeois parties and the PT was to criminalise the protests and resort to police repression. After this strategy failed, the mainstream media fought for hearts and minds of the protestors. They incited anti-political-party feelings, they prepared the way for thugs, hired from skinhead groups and also undercover police to physically attack labour, activist and leftwing protestors and organisations. President Dilma supporters shouted about the danger of a rightwing coup d’etat. That was just a maneuver to bring support around her administration. No sector of the ruling class are working for any regime change but for a better position in the coming presidential elections next year. Nevertheless through the employment of thugs, they want to prevent the emergence of a new militant leadership for the Brazilian working class that could threaten plutocrat interests.
The challenge to develop self-defense for our movement is definitely on the agenda. The potential for workers’ action Inflation, low wages, poor quality public services, families’ indebtedness are key factors building the working peoples mood of discontent. The number of labour strikes increased from 554 in 2011 to 873 in 2012. The huge federal universities student’s strike last year and other democratic mobilisations for different demands ranging from free marijuana, slut’s walk, to recalling elected politicians certainly built momentum for the current wave of mobilisations. In spite of the fact that the youth have been undisputably the leading sector of the mobilizations so far, there is a high potential for labor actions. In Sao Paulo, the first mobilizations were called by youth organizations like MPL (No Fare Movement), ANEL (Free Students National Assembly) and together they combined with the militant local subway workers union. For two weeks prior to the protests, subway workers took out their uniforms, wearing a vest opposing fare increase. Hundreds of thousands of printed manifestos were delivered by union activists to commuters opposing fare increases and calling rallies. Altino Prazeres Melo, the president of the tube union, was arrested in the very first rally. In Porto Alegre, bus drivers also allied themselves to the students in order to stop fare increases. In 20 June, Força Sindical, a conservative labour federation that stands for labor-capital partnership, pushed ahead a two-hour metalworkers stoppage in the Mooca industrial district, of Sao Paulo. In 26 June, workers side by side with youth and people’s organisations were part of the 60,000-strong demonstration in front of Belo Horizonte football stadium where the Brazilian national team was playing against their Uruguayan counterparts, was remarkable. In 27 June the alliance Espaço Unidade de Ação (Unity in Action Forum that unites CSP-Conlutas and other labor groups like CUT PODE MAIS - a dissent caucus within CUT ranks - and Farm Workers Federation of Sao Paulo) held actions across the nation in unity with other organizations.
All these actions are still drops in the stream of mobilizations. The call for 11 July actions from labour federations may provide a very positive addition to the current wave of struggles. The continuity and extension of the protests are not assured so far. Working class participation as such in alliance with the youth and the poor is critical for a sustainable movement for deep social changes. That is the challenge we face today. International Solidarity is Needed After 13 June, rallies in solidarity to Brazilian protestors were held across the world primarily by the Brazilian community abroad. These actions, together with struggles and revolutions in the international arena are a great source of inspiration for Brazilian protestors. We ask all labour, youth, people’s and democratic organizations across the world to hold protests in front of Brazilian diplomatic representations in 11 July 2013 demanding that the Brazilian authorities to meet protestors demands for less funding to the World Cup and more funding to public Education, Healthcare, Social Security and Transport; for labor/gay/black/women’s rights; for the end of police brutality and the criminalization of social movements, among others. Motions in solidarity to Brazilian protests are also welcome, building momentum for the international solidarity needed.
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