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21 September, 2009
Meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, on 16-17 September, the Executive Committee of Confederação Nacional do Ramo Químico (CNQ/CUT) elected ICEM Vice President Sérgio Novais the National Coordinator of the 350,000-member national industrial federation.
Novais, the Chairman of ICEM’s Latin America/Caribbean Region since 2003, replaces Donizeti da Silva, who will take up a position at CUT, as well as serve as President of CUT’s research arm, the Instituto Observatório Social. His three-year term as leader of CNQ-CUT was set to expire in 2010 and it is expected that Novais will seek a full term next year.
The former BASF chemical worker served as National Coordinator previously, in 2003-04. He has been on the leadership team of ABC Chemical Workers’ Union, the São Paulo state organization of CUT since 1991, and served as President of that trade union grouping from 1996 to 2003.
Last week’s Executive Committee also saw Rosano Sousa de Deus give up her seat as a director of CNQ/CUT in order to take the position of Youth Director of CUT. She was replaced by Carlos de Brito. The two-day meeting produced serious discussion on the possible merger of Brazil’s petrochemical companies, Braskem and Quattor Participacoes SA.
Such a merger would radically change the sector both inside and outside of Brazil. The country’s state petroleum company, Petrobras, owns 40% of Quattor and 25% of Braskem. CNQ/CUT’s board also discussed biodiesel initiatives by Petrobras in northeast Brazil, and took action on the current pension debate in Brazil. In other business, the Oil Workers’ Union, FUP, brought forward progress on new petroleum legislation introduced in Brazil’s Parliament.
CNQ/CUT is the largest industrial trade union federation in Brazil, representing workers in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber, glass, ceramics, and other process manufacturing sectors.