19 November, 2020Union federations CUT and Força Sindical have joined forces to create IndustriALL Brazil, bringing together 10 million workers from different manufacturing sectors.
IndustriALL Brazil was created on 17 November, and is an umbrella organization for a number of unions in the metal, chemical, construction, textile, garment, energy and food sectors.
"IndustriALL Brazil was created with a view to reindustrializing our country. Many manufactuing jobs have been lost because of the pandemic and because the government has no real industrial and economic policies. We call on other union organizations to join the fight to protect jobs and ensure decent wages,"
says IndustriALL Brazil president Aroaldo Oliveira da Silva.
FEQUIMFAR general secretary and member of IndustriALL Executive Committee, Edson Dias Bicalho, says:
"We are trying to bring in other key manufacturing sectors that are not part of IndustriALL Global Union, Força Sindical or the CUT. We want to work with business leaders and Brazil's National Congress to create a project to rebuild our national industry."
Mónica Veloso, vice president of the national metalworkers' confederation affiliated to Força Sindical and chair of IndustriALL Global Union's women's committee, adds:
"We want IndustriALL Brazil to play a key role in developing sustainable industrial policies, using legitimate union representation to ensure that members of the working class have a decent quality of life. This new national organization aims to redistribute power by focusing on gender relations."
IndustriALL Brazil will consolidate discussions, proposals and actions to promote the creation of industrial and employment policies aimed at reindustrializing the country and generating jobs and decent wages. Topics will include Industry 4.0, the transition to a low-carbon world, stimulating the circular economy and the need for sustainable development.
Lucineide Varjão, co-chair of IndustriALL's Executive Committee, mining sector co-chair and president of CNQ/CUT, says:
"We need to draw up an action plan aligned with IndustriALL’s so that we can move forward together. Our aim is to consolidate union power in our fight for equality, the ratification of ILO Convention 190 and against all forms of precarious work."
President of IndustriALL and IG Metall, Jörg Hofmann, welcomes the new organization:
"We commend the creation of IndustriALL Brazil. If we are to achieve our common goals, we have to join forces. Throughout its history, the Brazilian union movement has shown that it is capable of doing just that. And today, you have shown us once again."
IndustriALL's general secretary, Valter Sanches, says:
"We congratulate IndustriALL's affiliates in Brazil for creating this national organization and making history. In these very difficult times, the government of Brazil does not have a sustainable industrial policy and is destroying the manufacturing sector. The world of work is changing and if we don't have the right policies, then there will be no escape from deindustrialization. This new organization will be key in helping us to move forward on the right path. You can count on IndustriALL Global Union's support. The struggle continues!"