BRAZIL
Written by Camila Chaves
Wednesday, 02 July 2014 03:03
With the use of police, the employers try to prevent the workers from reaching the construction sites; workers have decided to continue on strike.
It happened this morning another attack on the right to strike. In Fortaleza (CE), the construction workers, on strike for four days, were harshly repressed. The police are preventing the union from reaching the construction sites. There are 18 surveilance spots in the city.
Beside the police action, a Labour Court’s judge issued an injunction prohibiting the union to get closer than 500 meters from the Rio Mar Mall’s construction site, under a penalty of US$ 22,000 for each noncompliance.
George Bezerra, a PSTU activist and highschool teacher who supported the strikers on a picket line at the construction site of the Rio Mar Mall, was arrested and then released. The Military Police also threatened to tell to activists they were under arrest, mainly those who approached the construction sites near the Castelão Arena, one of the stadiums that host World Cup matches. At the Rio Mar Mall, several people fainted and many were injured, also with fractures.
“Today, what happened in one of the major construction sites also happened during the other three days: the attempt to end the strike by a brutal repression carried on by Shock Troops from the government of Cid Gomes (PSB). Today they moved further, which was to perform the imprisonment of activists, as in my case. It was something completely meaningless, since my role was to prevent the strikers to take isolated actions that could contribute to a police crackdown,” George said.
The workers were not intimidated in the face of violence. Rather, they marched and decided to continue the strike in a mass meeting. In addition to the demands for wages and better working conditions, they require the resumption of negotiations. The employers simply withdrew from the negotiating table.
This absurd action is another chapter in the attack on the right to strike and of freedom of expression that should be repudiated by all workers. “It is a clear attempt to criminalize the movement. But the strike and the struggle will continue,” said a striker.
The bourgeoisie and the governments have taken a coordinated, nationwide policy, using the Military Police and reprisals, such as layoffs, to end the strikes and demonstrations, as has happened recently to the São Paulo subway workers.