Brazilian's take action against precarious work

BRAZIL: On May 23, tens of thousands of workers from the ABC industrial region near São Paulo and workers in several other states, participated in mass mobilizations to support President Lula's veto of a bill that - if passed - would result in precarious workers losing access to social benefits. On Friday March 16, President Lula signed into law a bill that creates the "Super-Receita" a public organisation that combines the revenue collection units from the federal tax service with the social security tax collections. However, Lula vetoed the controversial "Amendment 3" that had been approved by Congress by a very large margin. This amendment prohibited tax collectors from deciding whether a "self-employed" professional could be considered a "firm" or a regular individual tax payer, effectively limiting workers that are precariously employed from accessing social benefits. Since vetoing the bill, Lula has come under intense pressure from employer groups including in São Paulo the FIESP (Industry Federation of Sao Paulo State) and the local branch of the OAB (Brazilian Lawyers' Confederation). To counter this pressure and to support precarious workers, trade union national centres CUT and Força Sindical and social movements in Brazil staged mass mobilisations on May 23, including workers from the ABC region protesting in front of the FIESP office on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, the heart of the Brazilian financial industry. Big public parades and protests also took place in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Brasília-DC. The action was organised by trade union national centres CUT and Força Sindical and was supported by a range of social movements who share a common platform regarding labour law, land reform, better housing and against the criminalisation of social movements. A similar protest action was previously held on April 10. Precarious work is the central subject for discussion at the IMF Central Committee meeting taking place in Salvador, Bahia Brazil on November 28 and 29.