ORGANIZED LABOR DOING WELL WITH LULA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000292 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC AND DRL/ILCSR NSC FOR TOMASULO SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD USAID FOR LAC/AA DOL FOR ILAB TAGS: ELAB PGOV ECON BR SUBJECT: ORGANIZED LABOR DOING WELL WITH LULA REF: SAO PAULO 129 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A year and a half into his second term, President Lula has won back the approval of many in organized labor who had expressed disenchantment with him during his first term. By signing legislation granting legal recognition and government funding to the large labor Centrals while vetoing a provision that would have required the Centrals to account for the funds, Lula earned the gratitude even of those elements of the labor movement that had previously opposed him. Unions and employers' associations are negotiating with the government on alternatives to the mandatory "imposto sindical" or union tax but are reportedly making little progress. An unprecedented number of trade union leaders now hold positions in the federal government and are not inclined to rock the boat. End Summary. -------------- CENTRALS GET FUNDS WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY -------------- ¶2. (U) In mid-March (reftel),Congress passed legislation granting legal recognition to labor Centrals and making them eligible to receive some of the proceeds of the mandatory "imposto sindical" worker tax. When President Lula signed the bill into law on March 31, he vetoed an article that would have required unions, labor federations and confederations, and Centrals to account for the funds by submitting reports to the National Auditing Tribunal (TCU). Lula asserted that such a requirement violated the principle of union autonomy and freedom from government interference. The enactment of this legislation was greeted by labor leaders as a great victory. It not only made the Centrals eligible for the first time to receive government funds - possibly as much as USD 50 million per year - but relieved them of any reporting or accounting requirements. An attempt to make the "imposto sindical" (union tax) voluntary was defeated in the Chamber of Deputies. All registered workers, whether union members or not, will continue to contribute one day's wages per year, most of which goes to fund trade unions and federations. ¶3. (U) Passage of the legislation set off a scramble among the Centrals to qualify for the funds. Each Central is required to show it has at least 100 unions under its umbrella, spread across Brazil's five geographic regions and at least five economic sectors, and that they represent at least 7 percent of unionized workers nationwide. The two largest Centrals, the United Workers Center (CUT) and Forca Sindical, are virtually guaranteed to qualify, but others may have a harder time. For example, the General Union of Workers (UGT),formed in July 2007 from the merger of three smaller Centrals along with some unions previously affiliated with Forca Sindical, claims to represent over one million workers, mostly in the commercial and energy sectors. It is not clear, however, how many of these are actually union members. (Note: Under the Brazilian labor regime, a single union is deemed to represent all the workers in a given workplace, regardless of whether they are members or not. Approximately 18 percent of workers in Brazil belong to a union. End Note.) ¶4. (SBU) Although Congress voted to keep the union tax mandatory, there is widespread recognition that some new mechanism is needed to fund union activity. Luiz Antonio de Medeiros, Secretary for Labor Relations at MTE, is in charge of negotiations with business and labor on ways to replace the union tax. However, this is a complicated enterprise that implies a reform of Brazil's antiquated industrial relations system, and Medeiros acknowledges that progress is slow. He noted that while CUT and Forca Sindical, the largest, oldest, and most powerful Centrals, are receptive to possible change and more than likely able to adapt, others are resistant. UGT recognizes that change is inevitable due to global challenges and is willing to discuss options, but is wary of any modification that SAO PAULO 00000292 002 OF 003 might disadvantage its members. The New Central of Workers' Unions (NCST),which represents transportation, industrial, and commercial workers, was founded in 2005 as a force against change. Luiz Goncalves, President of the Sao Paulo NCST and a former president of the Sao Paulo Bus Drivers' Union, told Poloff that NCST will oppose any initiative that would erode rights hard-won by workers in Getulio Vargas's 1943 Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT). -------------- LABOR LEADERS: GOOD JOBS, BAD IMAGE -------------- ¶5. (U) During Lula's first term, CUT was the primary beneficiary of government jobs in various Ministries. Founded in 1984 by many of the same people who had earlier founded the Workers' Party (PT), with its base among metalworkers in the "ABC" industrial suburbs of Sao Paulo, the CUT operates as an autonomous social movement of the PT and is an important base of Lula's labor support. In 2005, Lula named former CUT President Luiz Marinho to be Labor Minister. ¶6. (SBU) After re-election, Lula sought to broaden the base of his government coalition. One of the parties whose support he sought was the Democratic Labor Party (PDT). To this end, in early 2007 he transferred Marinho to the Social Security Ministry and named PDT President Carlos Lupi Minister of Labor. One of Lupi's key allies is Paulo Pereira da Silva, aka Paulinho da Forca, a PDT federal deputy from Sao Paulo and president of the Forca Sindical labor central. Forca Sindical was founded in 1991 as a rival to CUT and subsequently grew into the second largest labor Central. Now the two are on the same side. By allying with the PDT, Lula was essentially opening the doors of the federal government to Forca Sindical. Since then, he has gradually offered other labor leaders government jobs, to the point that, according to a recent study by Professor Maria Celina d'Araujo of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, approximately 45 percent of upper-echelon politically appointed positions (nearly 600 prestigious jobs) in the federal government are held by current or former trade unionists. Trade union leaders from across the spectrum have eschewed confrontation with the government in favor of accepting lucrative government sinecures and other forms of largesse such as contracts to promote professional development and social assistance for workers. They now have ample influence in a number of Ministries with responsibility for social issues and a strong interest in preserving that influence in the next administration. Some business leaders, for example, have expressed concern that the Centrals will use their government funds as a war chest for the 2010 national elections. ¶7. (SBU) The augmented role of organized labor in government has brought with it some impropriety and the appearance thereof. Paulo Pereira da Silva has been implicated in a high-profile Federal Police investigation into alleged diversion of funds from the National Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES). In addition, he has been accused of abusing his membership on the Board of various government commissions to steer contracts to non-governmental organizations allied with Forca Sindical and the PDT. As a result, he now faces an investigation by the Chamber of Deputies' Ethics Council, which could potentially lead to his expulsion from the body. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) President Lula has by no means neglected the workers. The minimum wage has risen steadily on his watch, and his administration supports legislation to reduce the work week and to ratify two ILO conventions, including one that would make it more difficult for employers to fire workers without cause or lay them off. But he has also put labor and industrial relations reform on the back burner, in large part because such reforms would require tough concessions from organized labor. While business, government, and workers all have an interest in devising a simplified, less costly labor regime that would make it possible to hire more workers and reduce the size of the informal economy, nobody seems prepared to make the first SAO PAULO 00000292 003 OF 003 move. It appears increasingly likely that Lula will depart office with the same anachronistic structure in place as when he took office, and Brazil will have missed an important opportunity to address one of the principal elements of the "custo Brasil" that acts as a drag on Brazil's global competitiveness and productivity. End Comment. ¶9. (U) This cable was coordinated with and cleared by Embassy Brasilia. WHITE