by FABIANA FRAYSSINET
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 13 2013 (IPS) – The young people who have been protesting in Brazil over the last few weeks, who say they are apolitical and who have organised over the social networking sites, were not entirely pleased with Thursday’s demonstrations by the country’s trade unions and social and popular movements.
During a “National Day of Struggle” Thursday, strikes, protests and roadblocks were organised by the CUT central trade union and 77 urban and rural social organisations.
The demands of the new and more organised protests included better wages, a reduction of the work week to 40 hours, job security and an end to outsourcing, higher pensions, 10 percent of GDP for education, higher spending on public health, and improved public transport.
According to the organisers, 100,000 demonstrators came out on the streets nationwide.
In Rio de Janeiro, where some 10,000 people joined the march, the trade union’s flags and banners, professional-looking signs, sound systems and balloons contrasted with the hand-made placards of the students and other young people who began to take to the streets in Brazil’s cities in June.
But the student protests, initially triggered by bus fare hikes and organised over Facebook and other sites, were much bigger, reaching one million people countrywide.
Thursday’s protest “was peaceful; we’re asking for better working conditions and we’re protesting cuts in our companies,” one worker taking part in the protest, who said his name was Eduardo Henrique, told IPS.
Among the demonstrators, a group of engineers from Brazil’s Petrobras oil company called for an end to public auctions of oil industry concessions.
Inter Press Service for more