Brazil's PT: 5 years of internationalism

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SOCIALIST ACTION MARCH 1985 On Feb. 10, 1980, a national congress of 400 delegates representing 20 unions from 17 states of Brazil officially launched the Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores-PT).

Having emerged out of the strike wave initiated by the metal workers of the industrial belt of Sao Paulo, the PT has grown to nearly 400,000 members today and has demonstrated over the past five years its determination to struggle for the interests of the working class and of all the oppressed of Brazil (see July 1984 issue of Socialist Action).

One of the hallmarks of the PT over the past five years has been its understanding of the international dimension of the Brazilian class struggle. This was clearly manifested in the resolutions adopted at the founding congress of the PT, which supported both the struggle for self-determination of the people of Central America and the anti-bureaucratic struggle of Polish Solidarity.

Socialist Action is reprinting excerpts from statements by PT leaders and leadership bodies which are an example for workers everywhere of the genuine working-class internationalism of the PT. The translations from the Portuguese are by Socialist Action.—A.B.

Jaco Bittar on Poland Jaco Bittar is a leader of the oil workers union of Campinas. He is the secretary-general of the Brazilian PT. The following are excerpts from an interview published in Brazil in October 1982.

The workers' movement cannot limit itself to one country. It must be international. We do not believe that it is possible to achieve socialism in one country....

The PT places itself in the international process of the workers' movement against capitalism and against the bureaucratic regimes-against all those who oppose the self-organization and effective participation of the working class....

We denounce the attacks against the Polish workers. We have pledged our solidarity with their struggles and against the dissolution of Solidarity....

Of course, the capitalists have sought to use the Polish struggle for their own reactionary ends. But as for us, at no time have we sensed that the Polish workers are seeking to change the system they live under. What they are fighting for is to change the regime.

The Polish rulers are trying to impose a fake socialism on the working class. But what is clear is that the workers cannot tolerate a regime that stifles the workers—not allowing them to participate in the political process and to determine policies in their own interest.

We do not want this kind of socialism. We want the kind of socialism that Polish Solidarity is fighting for.

"Lula" on the United States On Feb. I1, 1982, Luis Inacio da Silva (Lula), spoke to a group of New York City trade union officials. "Lula" is the president of the PT. His speech and the answers to questions from the audience were reprinted in full in the winter 1982 issue of Against the Current, a socialist quarterly magazine. The following statement is in response to the question, "What about the example the PT can provide for workers in the United States?"

Historically we were used to believing that the working class should not engage in politics. Or when it did act politically, it should be only at election time, working as electoral aides to our bosses, or merely voting.

At least in our view, the working class will never succeed in having an effective democratic regime as long as it doesn't fight for not only independent unions, but also for political power.

CENTRAL UNICA While we are just fighting for economic demands, the industrialists can always answer some of the demands, because they can then pass on the increase in the cost of the product to us, who pay for the raises we obtain.

The objective of the political party is to complement the union movement, because the economic policies of a country are a political question, because the housing policy of a country is a political question. Transportation is a political question.

There is no other solution for the working class than to participate politiond CONCLAT did not meet in 1982 as had been planned. One reason was the attention concentrated on the November general elections for state governorships and the national assembly.

The major reason for the postponement of the second CONCLAT, however, was the role played by the defenders of the officia , state-run "unions" —notably the "pelegos" and the members of the Stalinist, Brazilian Communist Party (PCB). These forces argued that an independent union movement would be isolated from the large masses of workers and that, instead, workers should • fight to "democratize" the government "unions" from within.

Yet despite the splitting maneuvers of the "pelegos" and the Stalinists, the second CONCLAT was held on Aug. 2628, 1983. The 5059 delegates, representing 12 million organized workers, voted by acclamation to set up the United Confederation of Workers (CUT).

This founding congress of the CUT adopted a platform demanding free and independent unions, a reduction of the workweek from 48 to 40 hours with no cut in pay, the right to strike, a break cally. And to participate politically, for us—at ieast in the view we have in Brazil—is not to support candidates of the middle class to be representatives of the workers, but to have the workers themselves elect their own representatives.

The PT on the Central American revolution The following is a statement adopted by the PT on Sept. 6-7, 1982. Statements similar to this one have been adopted by every leadership body of the PT since that time.

The working class and the peoples of the world are closely following the events in Central America.

In Nicaragua, over two years ago, the revolution threw out the tyrants, opening the way for the people to impose their own will. Heartened by this victory, the peoples of the entire region, particularly in El Salvador and Guatemala, deepened their revolutionary mobilizations to put an end to the bloody dictatorships in their countries.

Since that time, U.S. imperialism, led by Reagan, the enemy of the world's working class, has been preparing direct and massive military intervention against the Central American revolution. ...

The PT, which in its founding platform declares its "solidarity with all people struggling for their liberation," which "supports the struggles of working people throughout the world, and which "understands that our own emancipation depends on the struggles of the world's working class" therefore calls on all the organizations and parties of the working class, all democratic and anti-imperialist forces in Brazil and on a world scale to stand firm in defense of the Nicaraguan and Central American revolutions.

with the IMF, an agrarian reform, the non-payment of the $98 billion foreign debt, the repeal of the Law of National Security, and an end to the military regime.

The military dictatorship immediately declared the CUT illegal and threatened to prosecute its organizers on the grounds that the labor code does not allow unions from different sectors of the economy to organize together. Yet due to the severe crisis of the regime, the CUT is being tolerated for the time being.

Trade union division

In addition to the dictatorship, the CUT also faces opposition from within the labor movement. The trade unions influenced by the Stalinists and the "pelegos" boycotted the August 1983 CONCLAT and decided to hold their own congress four months later in Praia Grande. This congress decided to create a rival union federation to the CUT and shamefully gave it the name of CONCLAT in order to confuse the workers.

This congress was attended almost exclusively by union officials. It adopted a platform that calls for a "conciliatory stance" toward the military, accusing the CUT of taking an overly confrontational approach to the government.

The CUT responded to the formation of the rival CONCLAT by reaffirming the need for the unity and independence of the trade union movement. It deplored the division created by the new congress, but proposed unity in action with the CONCLAT against the government. This principled and collaborative stance has already won the CUT the sympathy of thousands of workers influenced by the CONCLAT.

The CUT is a historical advance for the Brazilian and world working class. Alongside the PT, it campaigned in 1984 for free and direct presidential elections and called for the boycott of the electoral college. In this process, it has helped to mobilize millions of workers in opposition to the military regime.—