Brazil – It is necessary to break the passivity of the unions

It is necessary to break the passivity of the unions

The weight of the burdens arches the backbone of the exploited!

Masses 639, Editorial – June 13, 2021

The massive demonstration on May 29 raised a milestone in the long period of inertia under the lash of the Pandemic. The union and political leaderships, responsible for the dismantling of the mass movement, since the suspension of the National Day of Struggle, which would take place on March 18, 2020, were forced to give vent to the enormous discontent accumulated within the oppressed majority. Surprised by the influx of thousands of protesters, they found themselves under the contingency of revealing internal differences, and called for another day of mobilization for June 19. Behind the scenes, however, the most important leaderships, headed by CUT, resist expanding the occupation of the streets, and intensifying protests against the chaotic situation, marked by the persistence of the Pandemic.

The exploited are bent over due to carrying the burden of contamination, overcrowded hospitals, queues waiting for treatment, slow vaccination, daily high deaths, miserable emergency aid, unemployment, underemployment, poverty and hunger. If these burdens are not enough, the high cost of living makes it even more difficult to buy food, gas and pay electricity, water and rent. Also, violent police incursions into impoverished neighborhoods and miserable slums could not be missing, resulting in increasing deaths.

The combination of these sanitary, economic and social factors derives from a previous situation, from the accentuated impoverishment of the working family, especially with the 2015-16 recession, and with the country’s very low economic growth in the following years. In the abbreviated second government of Dilma Rousseff, the disintegrating tendencies of the economy rose powerfully. The little assistance achievements of the PT’s three previous mandate were set back. Under the coup government of Temer, anti-popular counter-reforms were promoted, starting with the labor one. Bolsonaro’s government – whose election was supported by the disintegration of the PT government, the impeachment movement, and the resumption of direct control of the Republic presidency by the oligarchies – continued the attacks by the bourgeoisie on the oppressed majority, imposing the Social Security reform.

The period of political reaction and worsening of the conditions of existence of the working masses was prolonged, without the working class being able to count on its unions. Instead of the leaderships firming the wage-earners’ demands, they gave in to the capitalist flexibilization of work. They shelved the defense of wages and jobs, adopting the dismissal agreements (PDVs), wage freeze or reduction (PLR, lay-off, hour bank, collective vacation), and collaborated for the implementation of outsourcing. In the Pandemic, they accepted the salary reduction and the suspension of the employment contract. They placed themselves under the roof of the meager R$600 emergency aid, and did nothing when Bolsonaro and the National Congress cut it in half, and then to nothing. Faced with the closing of factories and mass layoffs, the union and political leadership limited themselves to negotiating compensation.

For a year and three months, the leaderships contributed decisively to keep the proletariat and the other exploited in passivity. The Bolsonaro government was able to calmly guide itself by “denialism”, sabotage the limited measures of social isolation, halt the purchase of vaccines, reduce emergency aid, and promote privatizations.

It would not be the policy of the governors to tear out the Bolsonarists stumbling blocks, placed in the way of confronting the Pandemic. Opponents of Bolsonaro’s excesses could not go beyond what the economic power allowed, and the Bolsonarized National Congress admitted. Once the social strength of the working class was neutralized, the rulers could fight each other, without resulting in the containment of the Pandemic and the protection of the poor and miserable. Brazil is approaching 500 thousand dead. Unemployment has reached an all-time high. Millions climbed the scale of the underutilized workforce. Misery and hunger took a leap forward. And the unions are still stuck.

The demonstration that broke passivity was limited to the layers of the middle class and the oppressed youth. It did not have the working class as a lever. This absence indicates that the policy of passivity still prevails in workers’ unions. The union and political leaderships were forced to move from the comfortable position of supporting the governors’ policies and adapting to the National Congress, without, however, changing the general orientation, aimed at class collaboration.

The problem of the exploited is how to defend themselves, after so long bearing the brunt of the crisis. The problem of bureaucratized union leaderships is how to open escape valves to prevent social explosions. The calculations of political directions are being made in the midst of these two interlinked problems. The best thing for them is to open valves for the strata of the disaffected middle class, and to keep those of the proletariat closed.

The Bolsonaro government is cornered by the catastrophic frame. Presidential elections are still a long way off; and impeachment appears on the horizon as the bourgeoisie’s last move. The thesis of the “wear and tear” of the Bolsonaro government prevails; the strengthening of Lula’s candidacy, and the constitution of a broad anti-Bolsonarist front. The more the leaderships manage to postpone the intervention of the working class, and to discipline the mobilization of the petty bourgeoisie, the better for this strategic calculation.

Everything indicates that the June 19 demonstration will follow the thesis of wear and tear. This implies avoiding at all costs that the masses rise up for their own demands for jobs, wages and rights, which should only be mentioned verbally in the summons and in the angry speeches against Bolsonaro. The banners of breaking the passivity of the trade unions and fighting for  the exploited own emergency program  must be concentrated and widely defended by the class-conscious vanguard.