Brasil

With Moacyr Roberto Tesch Auersvald

Work in luxury, live in poverty

 

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.

 

Moacyr Roberto Tesch

 

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

Artur Bueno de Camargo and Moacyr Roberto Tesch

 

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

From Brasilia, Gerardo Iglesias
Rel-UITA
November 27, 2007

 

 

 

Photos: Elias Lima

 

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