In this moment a social welfare
amendment designed by the government
reaches the National Congress, the
Union Class Current (CSC) publicly
manifests its active solidarity to
the struggle of Brazilian civil
servants in defense of their rights
and for laws that assure the public
and universal aspect of the social
welfare system. This legislation
should be guided by the logic of
social inclusion and the interest of
the majority of our people. CSC
opposes the increase of minimum
retirement age, the taxation of
retired people and pensioners and
the proliferation of private
complementary funds.
It is necessary to emphasize that
the debate on this matter, which is
influenced by contradictory
interests that are not always
transparent, has been distorted by
the divulgation of half-truths and
false arguments, attributing the
responsibility for the financial
crises of State to the retired
people and pensioners. The rights
are confounded with privileges,
simulating the artificial division
of working people among the
categories of public and private
sectors. It is also diffused the
false expectation about the private
pension funds, as if they could
create and manage savings that could
support the economic development.
It is not true that the social
welfare is the main cause of the
financial crises, indeed it was
provoked by inner and outer debts
accumulated by governments and
increased by high interest rates. If
it were not for to necessity of
paying interest - that in last year
have consumed more than a hundred
billion reais - it would not be
possible to talk about deficit. On
the contrary the public accounts
would show a surplus (the so-called
primary surplus) higher that 4% of
GDP. The social security has
presented a surplus for many years,
but this information is neglected or
omitted in this question.
The amendment is not aimed only at
reaching fiscal aims imposed by
creditors and established by IMF.
The changes of Lula's government
must be characterized by social
inclusion and, in the first place,
by taking into account the necessity
to incorporate in social welfare
more than 50 million workers, who
are out of this system due to
massive unemployment and the
precariousness of job contracts
without worker registration. The
inclusion of this immense contingent
- that can be accomplished by
retaking economic development, the
reducing labor time and reversing
the precariousness of work
conditions - can provide the
increase of contributions and the
financial strengthening of social
welfare.
It is indispensable to reinforce the
government's role and commitment in
order to solve conflicts, privations
and social problems to debate this
question in contraposition to the
neoliberal philosophy prevailed in
the former President Fernando
Cardoso's governments. This
philosophy proposes the minimal
State, exclusively concerned to
satisfy the financial capital
interest. The economic policy of
Lulas's government should value the
manpower - including the civil
servants - the main resource to
foment and to increase the domestic
market, economy and employment as
well as the sovereign, sustainable
and lasting national development.
The Union Class Current calls
everybody to mobilize themselves to
a struggle in defense of civil
servants and Public Social Welfare.
Taking into account that to walk
towards development with work
valorization the amendments should
include:
. To keep the integral pension to
the civil servants, excluding the
possibility of taxation for retired
people and pensioners.
To keep the present age limits
to retirement.
. To audit the social welfare system
accounts aiming at a rigorous combat
to defraudation and misappropriation
and a review on the concept of
philanthropy adopted by Brazilian
social welfare.
. To limit the General Regimen of
Social Welfare (RGPS) based in a
quantity of minimal national wage
according the contribution and to
recover the sales power of retired
people and pensioners.
. To defend the Public Social
Welfare based in criteria of sharing
and solidarity among generations of
workers.
. To reform the RGPS assuring the
inclusion aspect broadening the
coverage to urban aged people,
unemployed and workers without
official registration.
. To create the public social
welfare complement with the
participation of workers during its
management.
. To vote immediately the bill that
defines the remuneration limit for
the three powers (legislative,
executive and judiciary) to stop the
privileged pensions (according to
Articles 37 and 48 of the Federal
Constitution).
. To improve the democratic
management of social welfare.
