In DF, political-cultural act marks Workers’ Day

Hundreds of workers mobilized, on this May 1st holiday, at two points in the Federal District to celebrate International Labor Day: at the Eixão da Asa Norte, which crosses the Plano Piloto, in Brasília; and at the Feira Central square in Ceilândia, the most populous city in the Federal District, located 30 km from the center of the federal capital. In Ceilândia, the Central Única dos Trabalhadores do Distrito Federal (CUT-DF) organized a political-cultural act with the theme Employment, Rights, Income and Democracy. Protesters of different ages wielded flags and wore t-shirts from social movements, political parties and in defense of Brazilian democracy. The union leaders, on the other hand, took turns at the microphones to dialogue with the workers and protest, during the morning, in the intervals between the artistic presentations of forró and rap. Achievements and struggles The president of CUT-DF, Rodrigo Rodrigues, pointed out that, in the first four months of this year, there were already labor achievements such as the increase in the minimum wage and the increase in the Income Tax exemption range, from the current R$ 1,903 to BRL 2,640 per month. However, the president of the CUT-DF defended that May 1st is a day of struggle. “Let’s follow. We have to regularize work by application, we have to include several workers in the social security system. We have to resume valuing public service in our country. And this May 1st is a day that marks all these struggles”. In addition to active workers, the act was attended by retirees such as Orlando Ribeiro de Sousa, from the Federal District Court of Auditors. Orlando said he was traveling and returned to go to the mobilization. “Lately, it has been very difficult. We are losing many rights, including being stolen. So the working class needs to organize to recoup its losses.” Another retiree, Aristides Neves da Silva, who worked for more than 40 years at the Ministry of Health in Brasília, did not forget the union activity on the May 1st holidays and spoke of resistance. “I came to celebrate the 1st of May, together with the workers, since it is a duty of the trade unionists to defend the class and participate in everything that is in favor of the workers”. Despite considering that his monthly benefit is out of date, Aristides is optimistic about the change in the country’s political scenario, especially after the granting of the 9% readjustment to public servants of the Federal Executive branch. In the act, the Movimento Brasil Popular (MBP) also joined other workers’ organizations and called for the national reconstruction and union of society against various forms of violence and in defense of workers’ rights, such as social security, as stated by MBP militant Nonato Nascimento . “There is a great precariousness in the world of work, especially in relation to black youth and those from the outskirts of cities.” Nonato also defended the alliance of rural and urban workers. “The movement defends popular agrarian reform, the via peasant movement, with the movements of people from traditional communities, in defense of the demarcation of indigenous and quilombola territories”. Education professionals Photo: José Cruz/ Agência Brasil Teachers represented the most numerous working class in the act in Ceilândia. With numerous posters, banners and T-shirts, education professionals took advantage of the mobilization to call on the category to join the strike in the Federal District, starting on Thursday (4). The administrative director of the Union of Teachers in the Federal District (Sinpro-DF), Julio Barros, claimed the appreciation of educators and the end of the precariousness of the work environment. “First of all, we need dignified working conditions, without overcrowding classrooms. Another very important issue is safety in schools. School security does not mean militarizing institutions. And beyond the working conditions, I highlight the appreciation of teaching professionals who have had their salaries for 8 years without readjustment”, he said. Students The teachers had the support of students represented by the vice-president of the Union of Secondary Students of DF, Lucas Cruz, who defended the strengthening of collective bargaining by public education workers in the Federal District. On the stage of the political act, he demanded fair and dignified working conditions for young workers. “We need to reflect on this May 1st about the working youth, those, among other young people, who are delivering food through the apps. This youth, today, has no rights.” Student Lucas also condemned the changes proposed by the New Secondary School with the intention of placing young people in the job market. “The New High School is an attack on our youth. [governantes] they need to understand that youth have dreams and that the school needs to embrace all the dreams of this youth”. Mobilized women Feminist movements were also present at the event. Private higher education teacher and militant of a political party in the Federal District, Lêda Freitas, called for union and organization of workers to defend a more dignified life and better working conditions. “We want the working class to organize much more. We have a long fight. We live in an era of capitalism, neoliberal, rentier [que vive de rendas], with a lot of exploitation, a lot of precariousness of the workforce. And we, the class that lives off work, need more unity, more mobilization to face this logic that takes away our rights”. In one of the stands set up in Ceilândia square, the Marcha das Margaridas, an organized movement that will mobilize rural workers from all regions of the country, other women dressed in lilac defended the workers in the fields and forests. Public servant Ana Paula Cusinato listed violations of rights. “We, women from the countryside and cities, spent six years with setbacks in retirement, in assistance as a whole, health, care, among others. Also, there was the release and increased use of pesticides that kill or make rural workers sick. There are also issues of family farming that were scrapped in the past government. We now have the hope of regaining the rights that were conquered over many years of struggle”. of rural women across the country.

Agência Brasil