By Brasil de Fato.
People went to the streets in every state of the country. Lula participated in an act in Sao Paulo and provoked: “instead of a reform that takes away rights, make the economy generate jobs”
Mobilization in Belo Horizonte (MG) gathered about 150 thousand people against changes in the Pensions proposed by the Temer government. / Reproduction
Inaugurating the intense calendar of struggles against the approval of the Proposal of Constitutional Amendment (PEC) nº 287/2016, that changes the rules of the retirement in the country, mobilizations and paralyzations happened all over the country. According to the Frente Brasil Popular [Brazil People’s Front] (FBP), which together with the Frente Pueblo Sin Miedo [People Without Fear Front], organized the actions, almost a million workers went to the streets this Wednesday (15) in every state of the country.
Brasil de Fato accompanied minute by minute the mobilizations. Thousands of people showed up in the actions in Manaus (AM); Salvador (BA); Cuiabá (MT); João Pessoa (PB); São Paulo (SP); Rio de Janeiro (RJ); Natal (RN); Porto Alegre, RS; Florianópolis (SC) and Aracaju (SE).
Throughout the day, diverse categories, among them, banking, metallurgists, chemists, municipal and state professors, public servants; also crossed their arms adhering to the protest.
Presented to the National Congress by the unelected government of Michel Temer (PMDB), PEC 287 establishes a minimum age of 65 years for men and women to retire and also requires a contribution of 49 years for the worker to receive the full value of its salary as pension. Some benefits may also be disassociated from the minimum wage, decreasing the value of retirement over time.
Check the partial report of the actions carried out on this national day of paralizations and mobilizations against Pensions’ reform (PEC 287):
Acre
Mobilization gathered about 7 thousand people along the main streets of the capital Rio Branco.
Alagoas
The event brought together about 8,000 people and organizations in the Martirios Square, downtown Maceió. In Arapiraca, in the harsh Alagoas, the concentration occurred in the Luiz Pereira Lima Square.
Bahia
Mobilization took place in Juazeiro, in front of the Municipal Paço, gathering hundreds of people.
Ceará
Action was held in the Bandera Square, in Fortaleza, and brought together about 50 thousand people, who also protested in front of the headquarters of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) of the capital.
In Crateús, in the interior of the state, hundreds of people also mobilized against the PEC.
Brasilia
In the federal capital, about 10 thousand people, according to the Military Police; and 20 thousand, according to the organizers, participated in the mobilization.
Espirito Santo
Mobilization took place in the Goiaberas Square, gathering 3 thousand people.
Goiás
In the state of Goiás, a mobilization took place in the center of the capital Goiânia, bringing together about 25,000 people, and in the cities of Anápolis and Rio Verde, with the participation of popular and union movements.
Minas Gerais
In the mining capital of Belo Horizonte, about 150 thousand people participated in the action, which began in the Estación Square and went to the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais. In Mariana, Congonhas and Ouro Preto the teachers, students and movements carried out paralyzations. In Gobernador Valadares, until midday, urban transport workers paralyzed work, something unheard of in the city.
Pará
In the state capital, the event gathered 15,000 people, followed Nazaré avenue to the Social Security building in the city, ending in front of the Legislative Assembly of Pará (Alepa). In the cities of Canaã dos Carajás and Parauapebas, protesters also closed the PA -160 towards Canaã.
Paraíba
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Union of Municipal Teachers of Sousa (SINDPROMS-PB), linked to the Federation of Workers of Brazil (CTB). Other events also took place in Campina Grande and Sousa Alto.
Paraná
In Cascavel, about 1,000 people marched through the center of the city, in the western region of Paraná. The demonstration brought together private sector workers, teachers from the municipal and state networks, municipal and state employees of the State University of Western Paraná (Unioeste), traders, gas station workers, bus drivers, construction workers, rural workers and students.
Unions, movements and student bodies organized the action. The march departed from the Cathedral Our Lady Aparecida, in the Center of the city, and continued to INSS [National Institute of Social Security].
In Curitiba, more than 20 thousand people march through the center of the city. The event left from the Andrade Andrade Square and continued towards the Palace of Government, in the Civic Center.
In the city, drivers and collectors of public transport, teachers of the state and municipal education network, workers of the public cleaning system, of banking and guards also paralyzed.
Pernambuco
In the state, Education workers approved an indefinite strike. The decision was unanimous with no votes against or abstentions. In Recife, the capital, the mobilization gathered 50 thousand people. Another 1 thousand and 2 thousand people participated, respectively, in Petrolina and Caruaru. In Caruaru, the INSS [National Institute of Social Security] headquarters was occupied.
Rio de Janeiro
In the morning, the teachers held an assembly in the Largo de Machado, the center of the capital. The BR 356, which gives access to the port of Açu, was closed. In Maringá, the streets around the INSS [National Institute of Social Security] building were occupied by about 5 thousand people.
Rio Grande do Norte
In the state, the Union of Workers in Public Education of Rio Grande do Norte (SINTE-RN) approved the strike of the category.
Rio Grande do Sul
Manifestations took place in the cities of Canoas, Caxias and Novo Hamburgo, bringing together about 13 thousand people.
Rondônia
About 5 thousand people participated in a demonstration in the state capital. In Ouro Preto do Oeste, more than 300 peasants, along with workers from the city, especially professors, made a march through the main streets of the city.
Roraima
About 5 thousand people participated in the mobilization in the center of the capital Porto Velho.
São Paulo
The first mobilization of the capital took place in the Grajaú neighborhood, at the extreme south, and gathered residents articulated by the Committee of Cocaia Resistance and Region. According to information from the site Periferia en Movimiento [Periphery in Movement], members of local housing movements, such as Nós da Sul and inhabitants of the occupation Unidos para Vender, participated in the event in the former Aristocratic Club.
Around 300,000 people gathered in Paulista Avenue during the afternoon. Speaking there, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated that “it is becoming increasingly clear that the coup in this country was not only against [former president] Dilma [Rousseff ] And left-wing parties, but to place a citizen without any legitimacy to end labor rights and Social Security. “
“I remain more and more convinced that only the people on the streets will make this country grow,” said Lula / Ricardo Stuckert – Instituto Lula
At the rally, Lula added that although he is a president without any legitimacy, the unelected president, Michel Temer, came to represent “a political force that tries to make a retirement reform so that no worker can retire.” He adds: “[the reform] will leave rural workers without retiring, earning half of what they could earn.”
Lula also sent a clear message to Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles and to Temer about the projects for the future of the country: “Instead of reforming to withdraw rights, make the economy grow, generate jobs. BNDES has to return to being an investment bank. The government has to re-rule for the poorest people in the country. We must stop with this bullshit of privatizations. Temer has to start selling what is his, not what is the patrimony of the Brazilian people, ” he said.
Finally, the former president welcomed the mobilizations across the country. “I remain more and more convinced that only with the people on the streets, using their instruments of struggle, and when we have a legitimate president, we will be able to make this country grow and generate employment,” he said.
“This country is very large, and its people are hardworking and have hope. I am proud to have been President of this country and to have proved that these people deserve to be proud. [The fact that] you went to the streets proves that anyone who thinks the people are happy is mistaken. And these people will only stop when they have a democratically elected president, “he said.
There were also protests in Sorocaba, with 300 participants; In Campinas, with 8 thousand; And in Itanhaém, with 100 participants. In Santos, Piracicaba, São José do Rio Preto, Sao Jose dos Campos, Ribeirão Preto, Americana and Bauru were recorded acts, but without official count.
Santa Catarina
Acts against pension reform were registered on Wednesday in Chapecó, Florianópolis, Tubarão, São Miguel do Oeste and Joinville, but there are no official figures on the number of participants.
Sergipe
In the state capital, the demonstration gathered 7,000 people in Aracaju.
Tocantins
A mobilization took place in the center of the capital, Palmas, and gathered about 2,500 people.
With information from Lilian Campelo, Julio Carignano, Pedro Rafael, Raissa Lopes, Pedro Carrano.
Edition: Camila Rodrigues
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