UGT Brasil Participates in Front Against Slave Labor
Entities and politicians linked to the union movement launched the National Front against Slave Labor and for approval of a constitutional amendment to seize lands where workers are held in slave-like conditions.
With proposed Constitutional Amendment 438 concerning slave labor on the congressional agenda, the UGT is intensifying its mobilization to guarantee approval. If passed, it would increase the risks for those who insist on keeping workers in this situation and would be an important tool to inhibit the practice that, 120 years after the abolition of slavery, continues in Brazil.
Together with nearly 30 entities, including seven union centers, UGT participates in conversations with deputies. The objective is to show how the measure will benefit both workers as well as farmers who comply with the laws and confront dishonest competition of contemporary slave owners. The measure has been approved in two votes in the Senate and one in the House, where it has been stuck since 2004 because of pressure from the rural congressional delegation, the principal source of resistance to the measure.
In the Manifesto to the Nation presented during the launching of the Front, the entities adamantly maintained: "Approval of PEC 438/2001 is absolutely essential for the Brazilian legislative branch to effectively contribute to this social scourge that in the 21st century still persists in various states and regions of our country, removing the dignity of many workers and even contributing to reinforcing a negative image of Brazil in the international community."
Read here the manifesto to the Nation against Slave Labor (in Portuguese)