Today, Labor unions, progressive political parties and social movements across Brazil are engaged in a general strike of all workers to protest the neoliberal anti-worker policies imposed by right-wing politicians including the new president Michel Temer.
Temer was put in office only after the illegal removal of progressive President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party.
Participants are opposed to the government’s pension overhaul, which will be voted on in Congress next week and which could set the minimum retirement age at 65 for men and 62 for women. Public sector workers have been able to retire at much earlier ages.
A congressional bill to weaken labour laws also progressed earlier in the week, and the country is experiencing an ever-unfolding corruption scandal, which has been linked to many top politicians, fuelling further public discontent.
TelesurTV.net provides the following video report from Brazil: