Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Please find below a Sample Resolution to be submitted to your unions in opposition to the unfolding coup in Brazil — and in support of labor delegations to the Brazilian Embassy or Brazilian Consulates in the U.S. (Please feel free to make any changes you feel are necessary.)
I have submitted this resolution to the San Francisco Labor Council for a vote at our Delegates’ Meeting next Monday, May 9th.
I urge all of you to do the same and to organize delegations, where possible, to Brazilian Consulates in your cities.
Please send me any copies of your resolutions and/or reports on your labor delegations.
In solidarity,
Alan Benjamin
OPEIU Local 29 Delegate
to San Francisco Labor Council
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SAMPLE
RESOLUTION AGAINST THE UNFOLDING COUP IN BRAZIL, IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY AND LABOR RIGHTS
(submitted respectfully by _______________)
WHEREAS, on April 17, 2016, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, with 367 lawmakers voting yes, decided to refer to the nation’s Senate the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff at the behest of right-wing forces which, having been defeated at the ballot box two years ago, are using extra-legal means in an attempt to dismantle the democratic, labor and social rights of the Brazilian people; and
WHEREAS, the nominal justification for this ongoing coup is the fight against corruption — but this a total sham, as has been widely acknowledged by jurists, academics, as well as political and trade union leaders the world over. Even Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, founder of the conservative PSDB party and former cabinet member in the Sarney and Cardoso governments, acknowledged that, “Brazil would be going backwards if the Senate were to ratify [on May 11] the impeachment of President Rousseff. We would be exchanging a president for whom there has been no trial for any wrongdoing, for a vice president [Michel Temer], who has been implicated in the Operation Car Wash corruption scandal” (Folha de Sao Paulo, May 1, 2016); and
WHEREAS, on March 23, Vagner Freitas, president of the CUT trade union federation, issued an international appeal stating that, “The attempt to overthrow President Dilma is an assault on democracy. What they want is to destroy all our rights”; and
WHEREAS, on March 24, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued a statement in which he asserted that, “The AFL-CIO vehemently rejects the effort to invalidate the progressive policies and achievements designed to build inclusive democracy in Brazil. … While there are many valid criticisms and frustrations with Brazilian politics and the current state of the country’s economy, these do not justify the impeachment of a democratically elected president”; and
WHEREAS, millions of workers, students, landless peasants and others have taken to the streets across Brazil for the past six weeks at the initiative of the Workers Party (PT), CUT, MST [Landless Peasants Movement], and others in the struggle to stop the coup in its tracks and to prevent the Brazilian oligarchy from being able to impose by decree the scores of anti-labor bills already in the docket of the National Congress aimed at turning back the clock to the dark days of the military dictatorship (1964-80).
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the _______________ [state name of union, central labor council or other labor body] stands firmly in opposition to the unfolding coup against President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil and extends our solidarity to the Brazilian workers and their organizations, primarily the CUT, who are fighting to stop the coup; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the ______________ call on the __________ [list City or State labor federation or national union] to take a firm stand in opposition to the coup; and
FINALLY BE IT RESOLVED, that the _____________ [state name of union, central labor council or other labor body] will organize a delegation to the Brazilian Consulate to deliver this resolution and to urge that it be forwarded to the proper authorities in Brazil, while we also urge central labor councils and unions in ______ [list State] to also organize labor delegations to the Brazilian consulates to express our unswerving support for democracy and labor rights in Brazil.
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