The 2017 Brazilian general strike took place on April 28, 100 years after Brazil's first general strike in June 1917. The movement was a protest against reforms of labor laws, which were later adopted and social security proposed by

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

government and pending in

National Congress of Brazil The National Congress of Brazil ( pt, Congresso Nacional do Brasil) is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senat ...

. More than 150 cities recorded stoppages, and according to the organizers, there were 40 million people, with no official admission balance or the number of protesters on the streets. With wide coverage in international media, the strike was minimized by the Brazilian press according to the journalist Paula Cesarino Costa, with emphasis given to conflicts between police and strikers. With diverse reactions, politicians who support the government reduced the impact of the strike while oppositionists defended it as popular expression. Political scientist Marco Antonio Teixeira, in an interview for the

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, said that the strike was "smaller than organizers expected, but larger than the government would like".

History

Several trade union centrals called for protests against new labor and social security laws proposals to the

government. Supported by local unions, the strike was called by several trade unions. Other movements were also at the forefront of demonstrations, such as

Landless Workers' Movement Landless Workers' Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) is a social movement in Brazil, inspired by Marxism, generally regarded as one of the largest in Latin America with an estimated informal membership of 1.5 millio ...

Homeless Workers' Movement The Homeless Workers Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto. MTST) is a social movement in Brazil. It originated from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra ( en, Landless Rural Workers' Movement). Although the MTST can ...

and National Union of Students. The political parties that declared support or encouraged their militancy to appear on the streets were Worker's Party,

Brazilian Socialist Party The Brazilian Socialist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialista Brasileiro, PSB) is a political party in Brazil. It was founded in 1947, before being abolished by the military regime in 1965 and re-organised in 1989 after the re-democratisation of Bra ...

Communist Party of Brazil The Communist Party of Brazil ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) is a political party in Brazil. The PCdoB officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory. It has national reach and deep penetration in the trade union and student m ...

Socialism and Liberty Party The Socialism and Liberty Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade , PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Juliano Medeiros and the federal deputies I ...

United Socialist Workers' Party The United Socialist Workers' Party ( pt, Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado, PSTU) is a Trotskyist party in Brazil. It is the largest section of the International Workers' League (Fourth International) (LIT), an international body ...

, Brazilian Communist Party, Democratic Labor Party

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

and

Sustainability Network The Sustainability Network ( pt, Rede Sustentabilidade, REDE) is an environmentalist Brazilian political party founded in 2013 by Marina Silva, a Brazilian politician from Acre. The party formed a strategic alliance with the Brazilian Socialist ...

. The strike was also supported by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Brazil. Several bishops and priests summoned the faithful to protest against reforms.

National Conference of Bishops of Brazil The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Portuguese: Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil, CNBB) brings together the Catholic Bishops of Brazil, as the Code of Canon Law, "jointly exercise certain pastoral functions on behalf of the fait ...

(CNBB) issued a note calling on Christians to fight "in order to seek the best for our people, especially the most fragile". A military police officer from

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

caused serious injuries to the university student Mateus Ferreira da Silva during a protest in the city of Goiania. The aggression was photographed and filmed, with photos in sequence capturing the moment when the captain's baton Augusto Sampaio breaks when reaching the student's head. The student spent 11 days in the intensive care unit and suffered several fractures in the face, in addition to traumatic brain injury. The police officer was removed from external actions and awaits in administrative activities the conclusion of an investigation into the incident.

Reactions

The strike had international repercussions and generated diverse reactions among journalists, government officials and political scientists, whereas, according to the

Folha de S.Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

, national coverage was minimized and exacerbated conflicts between demonstrators and police forces. The president

criticized acts of violence. The former Minister of Justice,

Osmar Serraglio Osmar José Serraglio (born 23 May 1948) is a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and politician affiliated to the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). Is current Federal Deputy for the state of Paraná and was minister of Justice and Public Se ...

, said that the strike would have failed. Politicians who supported the government criticized the strike and its motives, while opposition politicians supported it as a backing of the popular will.

João Doria Junior João is the Portuguese language, Portuguese equivalent of the given name John (given name), John. The diminutive is Joãozinho (disambiguation), Joãozinho and the Feminine (grammar), feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking c ...

, mayor of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, fought the strike stating in a social network that "Friday is a day of work".

Free Brazil Movement Free Brazil Movement (, MBL) is a Brazilian conservative and economically liberal movement founded in 2014. Initially a ramification of the Brazilian branch of Students for Liberty, it grew boarding the political dissatisfaction after the 2013 ...

also strongly campaigned against it, saying that demonstrators depend on the union tax. The union centrals have classified the strike as the biggest of the last decades, counting on the adhesion of 40 million people. The political scientist Milton Lahuerta said that the strike represented "an expression of indignation". Already for the journalist Merval Pereira, the strike would not be a popular uprising, but of unions that would be "losing perks". The

Rádio Jovem Pan Jovem Pan is the main Brazilian radio station based in São Paulo, Brazil. It is also the largest network of radio stations of the southern hemisphere, of Latin Americaand one of the biggest radio stations in the world.The network has several bu ...

declared that "there was no general strike" and that "in fact, the strike failed": "There were only small pickets of people who tried to stop Brazil".

References

{{Government of Michel Temer Brazilian_general_strike, 2017 Government of Michel Temer Political history of Brazil 2017 labor disputes and strikes 2017 in Brazil

History

Reactions

See also

References