A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 4, 2017
Brazil in the short Strikes – the ultimate price of welfare
(May 3, 2017, Vienna, Sri Lanka Guardian) April
28th will be a date to remember. Even though some of the great media
claim that there were only demonstrations around the country, it is to
assume that, by a consensus or not, what happened here was a strike. A
general strike, the first in 20 years, one of the biggest in the History
of the country, highly cited in the social media (figuring the trending
topics in the whole world for hours), spread over the 26 states and the
Federal District. Barely any buses or trains in the city of São Paulo.
Diverse unions like the teachers’ and the bankers’ and the two main
popular fronts were not only present, but also organised the event.
The reason for that? Not Mr. Temer’s government, specifically; not this
time. But the new measures and reforms he has emphatically worked on
since the end of last year, that happen to surprise and worry – to say
the least – the average Brazilian worker.
The outraged atmosphere, however, comes way before today and takes a brief economic explanation to understand.
Old, but not gold
Old, but not gold
The last general strike happened in 1996, during Mr. Fernando Henrique
Cardoso’s government, another neoliberalist. One of the points in common
is the fight against turning the workers’ rights more flexible. At the
time, Mr. Cardoso even claimed that ‘strikes don’t create jobs’, as the
protesters also manifested against the high unemployment rates.
It is natural that a moment of economic instability creates some sort of
friction amongst the workers and the government. The late conjunction
of that with a huge political crisis under the stigma of corruption is
perfectly combined with strict measures from Mr. Temer and creates a
dangerous mixture.
One of the most controversial acts proposed by the new president
concerns the pension reforms. The original project aimed to stablish a
common age for retirement, being that valid for men, women, being them
urban or rural workers – 65 years old, against the current 55 for women
and 60 for men. Also, the minimum working time for retirements with a
full pension (starting with 70% of its value and progressively evolving
to 100%, according to the years of extra contribution) would be of 49
years, against the current 25 years for urban workers and 15 for the
rural ones. Since it was not accepted nor tolerated, some changes were
made to be voted again in the Parliament – yet, the amount of people
impacted by the reform will be enormous, and the time they need to work
until they retire will increase. The country, Mr. Temer says, cannot
afford for the current system and some austerity must be shown, even in
such a delicate matter.
It is clear as Malthus could foresee that times of prosperity and
abundance do not last forever, but one must make no mistake and believe
that any reform should be accepted. Indeed, the Brazilian pension system
works as a pyramid – the ones who start working pay for those who have
already stopped. This pyramid, following the global tendency, is
becoming inverted and finding solutions for that is more than an
obligation. Mr. Cardoso, and also Mrs. Rousseff created some formulas
for calculating the ideal age for retiring and, until now, workers were
to choose which one would fit them best. The clash came with a
proposition of a questionable redistribution – which might have come as a
demand from the president’s supporters – that would ultimately harm the
Brazilian workers’ rights.
Work, work, work
Those, however, were not the only plans of the PMDB, Mr. Temer’s party,
government. On Wednesday (27), a late voting session at the Lower House
showed an articulation of a worried president for the approval of a
reform of working laws before the pickets that would happen the next
day. This reform would change some important aspects for workers, like
the possibility to work as third parts, maybe causing more instability;
the prevalence of employer-employee agreements over the law, which may
bring poorer working conditions, and the end of the obligation of yearly
paying the union, being the latter clearly one of the reasons why the
unionists were so heated.
The other side
The day after the general strike, Mr. Temer went to the television. He
had already discreetly positioned himself by saying that the workers
were in their right to protest, but that he would keep the discussion
where it was due: the Congress.
But what he and most of the citizens could take from the acts on Friday was that 1) protesters and non-protesters, especially he low-income ones, were terrified with the idea of reforms that 2) they could not fully understand.
But what he and most of the citizens could take from the acts on Friday was that 1) protesters and non-protesters, especially he low-income ones, were terrified with the idea of reforms that 2) they could not fully understand.
Therefore, on April 29th, the president appeared on a popular TV show,
in which he was interviewed by a charismatic TV host, and had about half
an hour to assure the mentioned workers that ‘the reforms would be
totally positive, no one would lose their rights’. He also took time,
through simple metaphors, to explain the contention measures and how
some economic measures – like the now allowed withdrawals from inactive
accounts from the Guarantee Fund for Length of Service and a R$5000.00
budget for renovating the houses of low-income families – would inject
money in the country again and create jobs.
Mr. Temer, this time, tried a clever movement in hopes of becoming more
popular and clearly rejected the populism present in the ‘late
governments’. He even reaffirmed his position in a brief 2-minute video
shared on the government’s official social media about the Workers Day,
but the consequences of this effort will only be felt as time passes and
his propositions are negotiated in the Legislative sphere.
On May 1st, many spots of entertainment, militancy and discussion were
organised by the unions, where many celebrated and protested during the
holiday. What was clear to see were the significant fewer voices from
politicians and an official letter from those institutions, in which
they claimed to be still fighting for the workers’ right and
considering, if necessary, a new date for strikes.
“If history … was ever on holiday, or seemed retired, it looks as
re-employed now.” – professor Anis Bajrektarevic – discussing state,
rights and ideology – recently wrote in his luminary essay on Europe.
The next days will be decisive. The country lives a moment of increasing
turmoil and, in times of Car Wash operation and increasing legit
criticism against the people’s representatives, no change will be easy.
Mr. Temer appears to be determined, but his government shows a history
of rethinking policies and measures. Until now, one can only try to
interpret the facts – so far, unemployment rates rose to 13,7% and, even
though inflation fell from 10,71% to 4,5%, so did his approval rating,
which was 4% in April – and hope for, if not innovative, feasible
solutions for the puzzle Brazil has become.
About the Author : Luísa
Monteiro is a bachelor in Social Communication and is a senior editor
at Modern Diplomacy. She is also taking a Master’s degree in
Communication and Politics at PUC São Paulo. Her researches are closely linked to the studies of internet as
a democratic agora and her latest academic production correlates the
(offline) social movements and their exposure on the net.