Approximately one thousand union members participated in an event at the Palácio do Planalto, in the Brazilian capital, BrasÀlia, yesterday, where they expressed their support for the Lula government.
The event lasted for around an hour. The participants gave president Lula a letter in which they said that some people are taking advantage of accusations against members of the government and the PT in order to destabilize the administration.
The acting president of the country’s largest labor union, the CUT, Wagner Gomes, declared that the President can count on union member support “to make the changes necessary to pull the country out of the mudhole that he inherited when he took office.”
Gomes also issued a warning: “Do not try to mess with or destabilize the Lula government because workers, the union movement, students and social movements will react. The labor unions are here not just because of their grievances, but because we support this government.”
The president of another union, the CGTB, Antonio Neto, added his support. He said the people present at the event were in favor of combating corruption and “facing off with the furious elite so that Brazil could belong to the Brazilians.”
The president of the Commerce Workers of São Paulo, Paulo Lucânia, said that Lula “is the only person who can alleviate the pain of the long-suffering Brazilian people.”
In their letter, the union members also called for changes in the government’s economic policies, such as reducing interest rates, a better minimum wage and a reduced work week without reducing salaries. They also said they wanted a political and electoral reform, as well as changes in union structure.
Lula thanked the participants and said it was important to express solidarity – both for the people who do it and those who receive expressions of solidarity.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
