Unified Workers' Central | |
| Central Única dos Trabalhadores | |
 | |
| Founded | 28 August 1983 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Location | |
| Members | Approx. 7.5 million |
Key people | Sergio Nobre, President |
| Affiliations | ITUC |
| Website | www |
Central Única dos Trabalhadores (English:Unified Workers' Central), commonly known by the acronymCUT, is the mainnational trade union center inBrazil.
CUT was formed on 28 August 1983 inSão Bernardo do Campo,São Paulo, during the First National Congress of the Working Class. Alongside theWorkers' Party (PT) and theLandless Workers' Movement (MST), CUT was one of the key organizations to challenge themilitary rule of 1964–1985 during its final stages, organizingstrikes in automobile factories located in theABC Region.
Nowadays, CUT is the largest and most important trade union federation in Brazil, representing over 7.4 million workers in all productive areas. It is also the largest trade union center inLatin America and the fifth largest in the world. Nevertheless, it continues to face obstacles because ofcorporatist laws that curb the workers' rights to organize. CUT generally supports ademocratic socialist political ideology and is close to PT and its leaders, many of which had been union leaders in the past.
CUT was organized to oppose the so-called "old labour movement", associated with the late PresidentGetúlio Vargas and hisBrazilian Labour Party (PTB). The main practice ofvarguismo and its leaders was to try to integrate trade unions and the Ministry of Labor, once the President had based his policy for the area using theCarta del Lavoro ofFascist Italy as a role model. CUT arose as an alternative to this model, claiming to be part of the "new labour movement", independent from the federal government. However, its close ties with PT made CUT a source of criticism afterLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva, PT's most prominent member, took office as President.
In March 2004, some union leaders unsatisfied with the organization's close ties with the Lula administration split from CUT in order to form theCoordenação Nacional de Lutas (Conlutas, English:National Coordination of Struggles).[1] Conlutas represents between 30 and 40 percent of the CUT leadership, and it is closer to theUnited Socialist Workers' Party (PSTU) and theSocialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) – dissidences of PT themselves – than PT.[2] The following year, leaders tied to PSOL and theBrazilian Communist Party (PCB) formed the Instrumento de Luta e Organização da Classe Trabalhadora (Intersindical, English:Instrument of Struggle and Organisation of the Working Class)[3] and, in 2007, leaders linked to theCommunist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) formed the Central dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras do Brasil (CTB, English:Central of Male and Female Workers of Brazil).
The following federations are affiliated to CUT:[4]
| Union | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Confederation of Technical and University Workers | CONFETU |
| Confederation of Workers in the Federal Public Service | CONDSEF |
| Confederation of Workers in the Municipal Public Service | CONFETAM |
| Democratic Brazilian Confederation of Workers in the Food Industry | CONTAC |
| National Confederation of Construction Workers' Unions | CONTICOM |
| National Confederation of Education Workers | CNTE |
| National Confederation of Family Farming Workers | CONTRAF BRASIL |
| National Confederation of Financial Workers | CONTRAF |
| National Confederation of Metallurgists | CNM |
| National Confederation of Social Security Workers | CNTSS |
| National Confederation of the Chemical Branch | CNQ |
| National Confederation of Transport and Logistics Workers | CNTTL |
| National Confederation of Vigilant Workers and Service Providers | CNTV-PS |
| National Confederation of Workers in the Apparel Industry | CNTRV |
| National Confederation of Workers in Commerce and Services | CONTRACS |
| National Federation of Journalists | FENAJ |
| National Federation of Retired and Retired Workers | FENAPI |
| National Federation of State and Federal District Employees and Public Employees | FENASEPE |
| National Federation of Technical Assistance and Rural Extension and Public Sector Workers | FASER |
| National Federation of Workers in Data Processing Companies | FENADADOS |
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| Other | |
