Brasília, July 30, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again defended Social Security and tax reforms. At a ceremony in the Planalto Palace, on Tuesday (29), to inaugurate the National Labor Forum, Lula sent a message to sectors opposed to changes in the Social Security system. "Everybody, from the most important Senator in the Republic to the Deputy with the smallest quantity of votes, any businessman, or any union leader, all of them know that we have to change," Lula declared.
For the President, maintaining the present social security system represents a lazy approach. "The reforms budge us from our comfort; it's better to leave things the way they are. Why change? It's not everyone who, at the end of the year, is disposed to take a can of paint to give the house a fresh coat. It's better to leave it the way it is. Why make the effort?" the President alluded.
Lula called for strengthening workers' representation through regulation of the unions. According to the President, this is the only way to guarantee negotiations between owners and employees. "This is a funny country: There are various central unions, none of them recognized legally, but all functioning normally. Tomorrow, some owner can refuse to make an agreement with them, because, legally, they don't exist," he affirmed.
The President also suggested the adoption of collective work contracts, which benefit a larger number of employees. Nowadays, according to Lula, the role of the union should not be only to fight for a 1 or 2% raise during annual contract renegotiations. Union leaders should be the legal representatives of workers in their condition as citizens. "The unions also need to defend the cause of those who remain outside the enterprise, the unemployed," he emphasized.
For the President, union modernization means maturity to discover a common denominator that can serve all sectors of society. "This is a profound debate that we will have to hold, without putting ideology in the front seat," he affirmed. According to Lula, the time has already passed when all unions did was to contest owners' decisions. "I distinguished myself in that era, but what history requires now is another mentality, another kind of behavior. Solutions demand understanding between all of you (owners and workers)," he said.
The National Labor Forum will include participation by representatives of the owners, the unions, and the government. Each one of these sectors chose interlocutors who will seek consensual alternatives for reforms in labor relations and union organization. "This may be the most diversified forum ever established in the country," the President remarked. The first meeting is scheduled for September 5, and the forum has no deadline for the presentation of its conclusions. (DAS)
