Brazil – A.L.L. Railways sacks five Trade Unionists Brazil Share Tweet In the last few days five trade unionists have been sacked by the A.L.L. (América Latina Logística S.A.) railway company (two in Bauru, one in Campo Grande and two in Corumbá), but the attack may become broader and the number of trade unionists that may be sacked is 23. We are appealing to all readers to take part in the protest campaign. A.L.L. (América Latina Logística S.A.), a company that runs important railway services throughout Brazil, is once again attacking militant trade unionists on the railways. In the last few days five trade unionists have been sacked (two in Bauru, one in Campo Grande and two in Corumbá), but the attack may become broader and the number of trade unionists that may be sacked is 23. These workers are asking for international solidarity in order to help them stop the attack. In the recent past A.L.L. attempted a similar move and the workers successfully fought back, getting all sacked workers reinstated while exposing the manoeuvres of the company's board of directors. A.L.L. is capitalized by Pension funds. The company is controlled by the investment fund BRZ-ALL, whose main shareholders are the following Pension funds: Petros (Petrobras), Funcef (Caixa Econômica Federal), Forluz (Cemig), Postalis (Postal workers), Previ (Banco do Brasil) and Sabesprev (Sabesp). All of them are Pension funds of State-owned companies. The workers of these firms are represented in the Board of directors of these Pension funds by representatives of important trade unions like CNB-CUT (Bank workers), FUP-CUT (Oil workers), FENTECT-CUT (Postal and Telecommunication workers). These Trade unions have waged important struggles against the casualisation of labour, privatisations, excess overtime, anti-trade union sackings and to defend working conditions. The Board of directors of A.L.L. is composed of representatives of the Pension funds and many of those nominated by the Pension funds are trade union leaders, but apparently their background does not represent a guarantee that workers' rights should be respected. The Railway workers' union of Bauru, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Mato Grosso have been at the forefront of the struggle against the anti-trade union manoeuvres of A.L.L. In 2007 another attempt to sack trade unionists was successfully stopped and an agreement was signed where A.L.L. accepted to stop its anti-Trade union activities. In the recent period a major confrontation has been developing between A.L.L. and the railway workers' unions that refused to accept a bad national collective agreement which would sensibly worsen workers' conditions and rights introducing extra overtime, no wage increase, differentiation of direct and indirect employees' treatment and more. Trade unionists are attacked for opposing the introduction of the single train driver and having successfully fought a legal battle against illegal externalisations, for rejecting working days that in some cases reach 16 hours per day and denouncing the appalling working conditions imposed on the workforce. All trade unionists should appeal to the leadership of the Brazilian CUT (the main Trade Union confederation) and the organizations that represent the workers in the Pension funds that they come out against these anti-trade union activities: The Brazilian railway workers under attack demand: That A.L.L. stops immediately the attacks on the trade union leaders of the railway workers unions of Bauru, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul and reinstates all the sacked workers. A.L.L. should stop the introduction of the single train driver A.L.L. and her subcontractors should respect the 8-hour working day A.L.L. should stop any mobbing action against workers in the workplace A.L.L. should implement and respect the national and international labour protection laws. Should A.L.L. not comply with these demands the workers are calling on the CUT leaders to demand that President Lula immediately terminates the concessionary contracts with A.L.L., putting the company under government control, and for the company to be run under workers' control. They appeal especially to all Bank, Oil, Postal, Metal and Electricity worker trade unionists to protest with their trade union representatives in the Pension funds and to give the maximum publicity to their appeal. We urge all readers to send protest letters to demand that any attack against trade unionists is stopped immediately and all sacked workers are reinstated to: A.L.L. - América Latina Logística S.A., Rua Emílio Bertolini, 100, Vila Oficinas, 82920-030 - Curitiba - Paraná, Brazil Solidarity messages Solidarity messages should be sent to the Railway Workers' Union of Bauru, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul: sinferrobru@uol.com.br Protest messages Send protest messages to pressure the following Trade Unions (whose leaders sit in the Boards of Director of the Pension funds that control A.L.L. equity) to act in solidarity with the sacked trade unionists: Oil Workers' Union of São Paulo [E-mail form] National Confederation of Chemical Workers [E-mail form] Bank Workers' Union of São Paulo [E-mail form] National Federation of Postal Workers E-mail: fentect@uol.com.br National Confederation of Bank Workers - CNB/CUT National Executive of CEF - CNB/CUT Pça Da República, 468 - 3. Andar - São Paulo/Sp - Cep: 01045-000 Tel: (11) 3361-4545 - Fax (11) 3361-9511 E-mail: cnbcut@cnbcut.com.br Oil Workers' United Confederation Av. Rio Btanco, 133/21º andar - Rio de Janeiro/RJ Fones (21) 3852-5002 National spokesperson: João Antônio de Moraes E-mail: moraes@fup.org.br National Trade Union Confederation (CUT) Rua Caetano Pinto, 575, Brás - São Paulo - SP - CEP: 03041-000 Tel.: (11) 2108-9200 / 2108-9108 President: Artur Henrique da Silva Santos [E-mail form] CNTT-CUT E-mail: contato@cntt-cut.org.br tel: (11) 3399-4732 Rua Caetano Pinto, 264 Brás - São Paulo - CEP - 03041-000 Model resolution: Dear comrades, We received the news of América Latina Logística (A.L.L.) S.A.'s renewed attack against trade union rights and the sacking of Railway workers' Union leaders in the company. We note that A.L.L. is owned and controlled by the pension funds of important trade unions, that is the money of workers' pensions. We demand that the trade union representatives who sit on the Boards of Directors of these pension funds act according to the aims of their members and reject any anti-trade union attitude of A.L.L. We demand: That A.L.L. stops immediately the attacks on the trade union leaders of the railway workers unions of Bauru, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul and reinstates all the sacked workers. A.L.L. should stop the introduction of the single train driver A.L.L. and her subcontractors should respect the 8-hour working day A.L.L. should stop any mobbing action against workers in the workplace A.L.L. should implement and respect the national and international labour protection laws. In solidarity, .............................
