ANO V - Nº 283 14.ABR.2010

Trade union centrals demand the 40 hours in front of the industry bosses house

An unitary manifestation of the trade union centrals in the 13th of April with about 20 thousand workers in front of the Fiesp building have ended one more round in the national fight for the reduction of the workload week from 44 hours to 40 hours, without cut in the salaries.
After the protest, the workers have camped in front of the state head-office of the industry bosses, at Paulista Avenue, São Paulo. In the middle of March, Força Sindical had delivered a document to Fiesp asking for the opening of the negotations about the 40 hours workload, but it hasn’t been answered yet.

João Carlos Gonçalves,
Juruna, secretário geral
da Força Sindical

General campaign
To the general-secretary of Força Sindical, João Carlos Gonçalves, Juruna, the trade union leaders also want to negotiate the 40 hours by company or by economic segment.

“Our initiative is linked to the general campaign to pressure the National Congress to approve the PEC 231/95, which is about the workload reduction”, says Juruna.

Danilo Pereira da Silva,
presidente da Força Sindical-SP

Bosses ignore it
“The businessmen defend that the workload reduction must to happen by direct negotation. However, the biggest bosses federation of the country have been silent, ignoring the workers claims”, adds the president of Força-SP, Danilo Pereira da Silva.

In the opinion of the president of the Metallurgist Trade Union of São Paulo, Miguel Torres, the federal government also have been silent to the claim of the trade union centrals, saying that the worked hour is a problem of the capital and the work.

Unit in fight
“Over the difficulties, it’s up to the trade union movement to keep the unit in fight and to organize the movement at the cities, companies, districts and schools” points the president of the Workers at Civil Construction Trade Union of São Paulo, Antônio de Souza Ramalho.

The time of work is a debate which interests to all Brazilian society because it’s linked to solidarity between workers: it will create about 2,5 million new jobs in the country.

More jobs means more salary and more consumption, making a virtuous circle able to diminute misery and violence. “Only with a lot of pressure it will have any chance that the Congress to vote soon the proposal of the smaller week”, says Carlos Vicente de Oliveira, president of the Workers in Food Industry Trade Union of São Paulo.

Worker has to increase
the bench at the National Congress

The difficulty in making the National Congress to vote and to approve the PEC 231/95, which is about the workload reduction with the manteinance of the salaries, is linked to the class origin of the parliamentarians at the National Congress and the Senate. The majority of them comes from bosses origin. They vote according to their bosses.

The workers representatives, on the other hand, are not more than one hundred in 594 politicians at the Congress and at the Senate. Because of that, it hasn’t been possible yet to vote and to approve the workload reduction, among other claims.

To enlarge rights
According to avaliation of the editorial of the Boletim DIAP, it’s fundamental to elect parliamentarians commited to workers to guarantee and enlarge work rights. Besides, the parliamentarians representativity will be important to “make the mediation between public authorities and the working class and between it and the businessmen, at the moments of conflict”, says the text.

Nowadays, the current bench, despite beeing small, have reacted well to the investides of the neo-liberalism at the Congress, but this combativity won’t be able to deal with a different conjuncture of the lived at the second mandate of president Lula.

Mobilization for
the 40 hours warms

The vote is our weapon

 

The Brazilian population have elected a trade union leader for president of Republic. It’s been a historical advance because, after several decades of conservative governments, we could have a president really commited with the exclude population and with workers of the field and of the city.

The election of Lula have also represented the election of a project. Which project? The project of a popular government, away from the chains of the great capital, the large state and the bankers.

And it has been right. We had real achievements. One of them is the creation of millions of jobs. Another achievement is the politic of real increase of the minimum salary. We can also consider achievements the salary increase for the retired and the end of the scandals – which were very commom – at the Social Security. It seems a lie, but Brazil don’t have external debt anymore and still lends money to FMI.

All of that is good, but its continuity is not guaranteed because this year we have elections. And election is for wining or losing. Because of that I call all the leaders of Força Sindical to the importance of the elections, when we’ll be able to guarantee advances (which is what we want) or we’ll see Brazil taking the way of retreat (which is what we reject).

Our vote is our weapon, that we have to know how to use in defense of our interests and to avoid the come back to the power a project neo-liberal and anti-work. Therefore, to elect a president who guarantees advances is a fundamental job. As it is also fundamental to re-elect federal deputy Paulinho and to put more representatives of the working class at the National Congress.