Brazilian Labor Federations Will Carry Out a National Day of Action Against the Social Security Reform on February 20th In Preparation For A General Strike!

“Working Class National Assembly in Defense of Public Pension System and Against the End of Retirement Right!”
This is the unitary call with which eight Brazilian Central Trade Unions, CSP-Conlutas, CUT, Força Sindical, NCST, CTB, CSB, CGTB and Intersindical, convene the first nationwide action in opposition to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro announced changes in the social security system. On that same day in several states demonstrations and protests will be carried out.

Our Labor and People’s Federation values this degree of unity and emphasizes the need to keep and deepen it so that we can defeat this and other constitutional reforms. Bolsonaro’s administration is ultraliberal in economics, social conservative and made of an expressive number of the top military in all its levels. Thus, the option of attacking social and labor rights, national sovereignty and even democratic liberties such as the right to organize, demonstrate and to strike is even more visible than in the previous administrations.

Bolsonaro, in office for 45 days only, has already carried out deep attacks on several sectors of the poor and hard-working people, both urban and rural, even before announcing the Social Security reform. Among them the suspension of State recognition of both Native-Brazilian and African-Brazilian lands, revision of social benefits already granted for hundreds of thousands of working families, rupture from the United Nations’ international migration pact, creation of a special team to promote privatization in all areas, including strategic ones such as oil and energy. Bolsonaro administration and its economic team, which follow Chicago University ultraliberal theories, subject itself to both the “markets” and U.S. imperialism.

The broadest unity in action is a necessity in face of this backlash. February 20 Working Class National Assembly is critical for each and all labor together with all people’s movements and democratic organizations across the country.

CSP-Conlutas believes that the struggle against the Social Security Reform shall become the starting point to put together labor with Black movements in struggle against racism, genocide and for Quilombolas (self-freed Black slaves descendants) rights, with Women against machismo, sexist violence and for equal rights, with Peasants for land reform, Immigrants for papers and support from the State, LGBT against discrimination and Native-Brazilians for land and rights, challenging Banks, Corporations and their government.
Ten thousand people are expected to attend the Working Class National Assembly. Irrespective of diverse approaches, labor federations agree to call a national day of action preparing for a General Strike.

While in struggle for working people’s rights we stand in solidarity with 300 workers who lost their lives in Brumadinho where giant Mining corporation Vale had a dam with toxic waste that collapsed becoming the largest collective workplace accident in Brazilian history. We also stand in solidarity with seven people who lost their lives due to floods in Rio de Janeiro and the 10 young football players who died due to a fire in their lodging. We stand in solidarity with relatives and friends of all these victims of corporate greed.

International solidarity is critical for the struggles against corporate, governmental and imperialist backlash. We call labor and social movements across the world to stand in solidarity with Brazilian working classes against ultra-right Jair Bolsonaro administration and his pro-imperialist agenda.