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Sirel met in Brasilia with the President
of the National Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Workers (CONTRATUH),
one of Brazil’s largest labor organizations.
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Moacyr Roberto Tesch |
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I arrived with
Artur Bueno de Camargo, president of the National Confederation of Food
Workers (CNTA), at CONTRATUH headquarters in the afternoon of
Thursday, November 22nd. We were greeted by Moacyr himself and
without further ado we fell easily into conversation. After giving us a tour of
the spacious and functional rooms of the headquarters, Moacyr turned to
us:
-Have you
noticed anything peculiar about our work tables?
-Well, besides
being large, they’re made of glass and they’re all black -I ventured.
-No, if you
look closely you’ll see that they don’t have any drawers.
-And why’s
that? -Artur and I asked almost at the same time.
-It’s so that
none of us will hide our work -Moacyr answered with a mischievous smile.
CONTRATUH
was
formed on November 26, 1988 and its membership is now up to 450 trade unions,
five national federations and 31 state federations, representing approximately 8
million workers. According to Moacyr, the Confederation “was forged as
an instrument of struggle for tourism and hospitality workers in Brazil.
In its struggle to dignify working and economic conditions, it has given workers
a trench from which to fight against structural reforms that entail a
flexibilization of labor rights resulting from the globalizing economic
dictatorship,” the union leader stressed.
Asked about the
characteristics of the jobs generated by tourism, the president of CONTRATUH
remarked that: “As in other regions, here in Brazil we have problems
with working and payment conditions, because a significant percentage of the
workers are hired through phony cooperatives. We say that hotel workers work in
luxury and live in poverty.
Also -Moacyr
continued-, while Brazil has plenty of beautiful landscapes to offer,
tourists know how to appreciate a quality service, and in that area there is a
lot of room for improvement. But, even though this is an essential aspect, we
see that management is not interested in promoting and supporting our
professional training.”
“Viver Mulher” Campaign
No to Violence against Women
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Artur Bueno de Camargo and
Moacyr Roberto Tesch |
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Last March 8,
CONTRATUH launched the national campaign “Viver Mulher,” Respect,
Dignity and Equality - No to Violence. The campaign began with a national
seminar aimed at training multiplying agents to disseminate the campaign’s
message within the Confederation’s affiliates and among society in general
through an ongoing effort.
According to
Vera Ferreira de Morais, director of Legislative Matters of CONTRATUH,
“The general goal of this campaign is to combat violence against
women, and as part of its specific goals we are focusing on promoting reflection
among union leaders, informing about existing laws, reducing tolerance to
violence, mounting a network to struggle against this social calamity and
stimulating the participation of social organizations in the drafting of public
policies on the subject.”
Moacyr
underlined that CONTRATUH and the labor movement in general are “opinion
makers, and therefore we are well positioned to contribute to eradicating this
practice.” Moreover, he highlighted the reflection and dissemination approach
that the Confederation took in this campaign, “because only by making society as
a whole aware of all the issues that affect us, will we be able to contribute to
report cases of violence against women in time and to find solutions to the
problem,” the president asserted.
Another
significant area of CONTRATUH’s work is its program against “Exploitation
of Children in Child Sex Tourism.” In this, the Confederation has joined the
efforts of the federal government, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism,
the Permanent Subcommittee on Tourism of the House of Representatives and
the Parliamentary Tourism Front (PARLATUR).
“This is a
deplorable issue -Moacyr sentenced-, and it’s linked to poverty, lack of
opportunities and the exclusion suffered by vast sectors of our society. It has
to do with the depopulation of rural areas and the absence of public policies to
deal with this phenomenon, but also with the failure to enforce existing
legislation. A positive aspect in all of this is that child sex tourism is such
an aberration that it is not an issue that the authorities can ignore,”
Moacyr concluded.
Artur Bueno
de
Camargo,
Gerardo Iglesias
and
Moacyr Roberto Tesch Auersvald |
