Thousands of public workers have joined a general strike in Brazil against a controversial government proposal to reform pensions.

The strike, the first since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January, has affected public transport, schools and banks across the country.

Police used stun grenades on protesters in Rio de Janeiro. In several cities, roads were blocked with burning tyres.

Mr Bolsonaro says the reform is needed in order to restore public finances.

The plan includes raising the minimum retirement age to 65 for men and 62 for women and workers' contributions. Critics argue the changes, which have to be approved by both houses of Congress, would penalise the poorest.
• Read more about the proposed pension reform
• Is the honeymoon period over for Bolsonaro?

The one-day protest called by unions, the second general strike in Brazil in two years, affected public transport in São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, where subway workers joined the strike.

Transport had also been affected in other major cities, including Salvador, Curitiba and Maceió and the capital, Brasília. Many schools, universities, banks and parts of the state-run oil company Petrobras were also not working.

In dozens of cities across the country, protesters - who are also against cuts to the education budget - held demonstrations on the streets and in some blocked streets and roads with burning tires.

The government estimates the current plan for the reform will result in savings of $237bn (£188bn) over the next decade. The changes are seen as crucial to revive the country's economy, still struggling to recover from the 2015-2016 recession, the worst in more than a century.

Opponents say the poor would be the most affected, as they are more likely to start working at a young age and would now be required to work longer before being able to collect pension benefits.

Congress is expected to vote on the reform in the next few weeks, and the new rules would phase in over 12 to 14 years.

On Friday evening local time, Mr Bolsonaro is expected to attend the opening ceremony of the Copa America soccer tournament in São Paulo, where a special plan has been implemented for fans to arrive at the Morumbi stadium. </s> Thousands of people filled the streets of Brazil's main cities Friday, and schools, banks and some public transportation shut down, as Brazilians angry over a pension reform and budget cuts held the first general strike of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's administration.

The nationwide strike was called by Brazil's unions and mainly targeted the pension reform Bolsonaro is currently pushing for in Congress, but it comes on the heels of massive protests in May against steep cuts to the public education system and amid discontent over an economic downturn.

"Stop the reform or we stop the country!" shouted strikers in front of the Candelaria Church in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Reinaldo Galamba, a 63-year-old French teacher in a state office, said he fears the reform would force him to work more years before retiring.

"This government is awful, it is ending the country," he said.

In Rio, police launched tear gas at protesters who attempted to block Avenida Brasil, while residents of Sao Paulo awoke to find demonstrators burning tires on the main Rodovia Anhangüera highway. There were no reports of injuries.

Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul said 76 people who participated in the protests had been detained, including 54 in the state capital of Porto Alegre.

While the crowds were not as large as in May's education protests, the United Workers Central labor federation called the strike a success, claiming that 45 million heeded its call not to work.

Bolsonaro's government, which took office on Jan. 1 and has faced a series of protests by women's and indigenous groups, as well as by teachers and students, ignored Friday's general strike. The press office of the presidency said it wouldn't release any statements.

The pension reform would raise the retirement age to 65 for men and 62 for women and increase workers' contributions. Under the current system, male and female workers can claim pension benefits after 30 to 35 years of contributions, respectively, meaning many can retire as early as 50 or 55.

Bolsonaro's government says the reform could save about 1 trillion reals ($260 billion) and help save the troubled social security system from bankruptcy.

The proposal is currently being reviewed by a special commission in the lower house of congress. A previous pension reform bill, introduced by former President Michel Temer, managed to pass the commission and made it to the plenary, but was abandoned after nine months.

Protester Carolina Cacau said the plan would do away with retirement altogether.

"It will make workers work until their death," she said. </s> A view of closed metro station in Sao Paulo, Brazil, during a national strike called by trade unions over Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's pension reforms

Advertising Read more

Sao Paulo (AFP)

A nationwide strike called by Brazil's trade unions disrupted public transport and triggered road blocks in parts of the country Friday, ahead of protests against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's pension reform.

Hours before the opening match of the Copa America in Sao Paulo, some metro lines in the country's biggest city were paralyzed as professors and students also prepared to take to the streets over the government's planned education spending cuts.

It will be the latest mass demonstration against Bolsonaro since he took office in January, but the timing could not be worse for the embattled president as Brazil prepares to play Bolivia in South America's showcase football tournament.

Bolsonaro was expected to attend the opener at Morumbi stadium where police sharpshooters will be deployed as part of increased security for the competition.

One of Brazil's main trade unions estimated 45 million workers had taken part in the strike.

Some 63 cities had been affected by the stoppage, with more than 80 cities recording demonstrations, G1 news site said.

The number of protesters is expected to balloon in the afternoon with demonstrations planned in Brazil's major cities.

Protesters have already blocked some roads in several cities, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, where G1 said police had used tear gas to disperse demonstrators and clear the streets.

Brazilians were divided over the partial strike.

"This current government wants to destroy everything that we built decades ago so that's why I'm in favor (of the strike) and I am fighting against social inequality," Vania Santos, 49, told AFP in Rio.

In Sao Paulo, Flavio Moreira opposed the stoppage, however, saying it "hurts the commercial part" of the city.

- Pension savings cut -

Bolsonaro's proposed overhaul of Brazil's pension system -- which he has warned will bankrupt the country if his plan is not approved -- is seen as key to getting a series of economic reforms through Congress.

But the changes, including an increase in the retirement age and workers' contributions, have faced resistance from trade unions and in the lower house of Congress, where Bolsonaro's ultraconservative Social Liberal Party has only around 10 percent of the seats.

A pared-back draft of the reform presented to Congress on Thursday -- which reduces expected savings from 1.2 trillion reais ($300 billion) in 10 years to around 900 billion reais -- did little to appease union leaders, who vowed to go ahead with the shutdown.

Such savings are seen as vital to repairing Brazil's finances and economy, which were devastated by a 2015-2016 crisis.

Economy minister Paulo Guedes, who is spearheading the government's reform agenda, has threatened to resign if the bill is not passed or is watered down significantly.

It caps a tumultuous six months for Bolsonaro, who has seen his popularity nosedive as he struggles to push his signature reform through a hostile Congress and keep Latin America's biggest economy from sliding back into recession.

More than 13 million people are unemployed, the latest data shows, with a record number giving up looking for a job.

Fighting between military and far-right factions of Bolsonaro's government has fueled chaos in his administration where his sons and right-wing writer and polemicist Olavo de Carvalho wield enormous influence.

Bolsonaro sacked his third minister on Thursday -- retired general Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, who had been the government secretary and seen as a moderate voice.

That came on the same day Bolsonaro broke his silence to defend Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who has been accused of wrongdoing while serving as a judge in the sprawling Car Wash anticorruption investigation.

? 2019 AFP </s> AP Explains: Why is there a general strike in Brazil?

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil kicked off a general strike Friday that is likely to paralyze major cities across Latin America's largest country. The nationwide strike is the first since the arrival of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Jan. 1. While most participants will be protesting against a pension reform being discussed in Congress, others will be turning out to oppose budget cuts, a sluggish economy and the administration's conservative agenda. Here is a look at what's happening and why:

FIRST GENERAL STRIKE IN TWO YEARS

Workers in all 26 Brazilian states and the federal district of Brasilia are expected to take part in Friday's strike, according to several unions. Actions blocking roads and public transportation are set to start early in the morning in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Turnout should be particularly strong in the northeast, the historic bastion of the opposition Workers' Party. But general strikes are not so common in Brazil. The last one was held in 2017 against proposals in Congress to loosen labor rules and trim pension benefits. Before that, there hadn't been a general strike in 20 years.

While it will be the first nationwide labor strike against Bolsonaro, he has faced protests since even before he was elected on Oct. 18, 2018. A few weeks before casting their votes, women led large demonstrations across Brazil over the far-right leader's misogynistic comments and conservative social agenda. They marched under the slogan "Not Him." In April, indigenous leaders from over 300 ethnicities attended a march in Brasilia to denounce policies they say will facilitate the expansion of mining and industrial farming businesses into their protected lands. Then last month, thousands took to the streets to oppose a decision by Bolsonaro's government to slash education funds in the largest protest so far.

Friday's strike is primarily against the pension reform the Bolsonaro administration is currently pushing for in Congress. The plan would raise the retirement age to 65 for men and 62 for women and increase workers' contributions. The government says the proposal could save about 1 trillion reals ($260 billion) and that it is essential for saving the troubled social security system and hopefully giving a boost to Latin America's largest economy. Under the current system, male and female workers can claim pension benefits after 30 to 35 years of contributions, respectively, meaning many can retire as early as 50 or 55.

The reform is one of this administration's signature promises and is currently being reviewed by a special commission in the lower house of congress. A previous pension reform bill, introduced by ex-President Michel Temer, managed to pass the commission and made it to the plenary, but was abandoned after nine months.

Some Brazilians will use the strike as another opportunity to express their opposition to the government's across-the-board budget cuts, especially to education. Professors, students and academics have protested the decision to pare $1.85 billion from funds for the public education network, from elementary schools to universities. They were particularly distressed by the suspension of some scholarship funding and a 30% freeze on federal universities' discretionary budgets, which goes to pay utility bills, security, cleaning or maintenance work. Officials have promised to send more money toward education, thanks to an additional government funding measure approved this week by Congress. But they have conditioned even more funding on the passing of the pension reform.

There is widespread discontent over Brazil's sluggish economy. Gross domestic product shrank in the first quarter of 2019, while inflation hit nearly 5% in April, the highest in more than two years. Unemployment also remains high at nearly 13%, but even greater —over 30%— among Brazilians aged 18 to 24. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes recently told Brazilian magazine Veja that he would quit his position if Congress tried to pass a watered-down version of his pension proposal. Without the reform, Guedes said the country could go broke as early as next year. </s> Major national unions and social organizations strike (again) against President Jair Bolsonaro pension reforms, shutting down capitals and cities across country.

In Brazi the Popular Brazil Front, People Without Fear Front along with hundreds of other social movements and student organizations, as well as twelve of the country's largest trade unions are staging a massive general strike against President Jair Bolsonaro’s plan to privatize the nation's pension system.

“We know that this pension reform is a fraud, it's a lie, and the working class is going to pay a high price for it. That is why we are out here,” Luiz Gonzaga da Silva, leader within the Central of Popular Movements (CMP) told the press Friday morning as the nation was brought to a halt from the strike.

Public transportation in dozens of Brazilian state capitals is non-existant this Friday and streets are empty save protesting citizens. In Sao Paulo, a city of 13 million inhabitants and Brazil's financial and economic center, burning tires along the city's main avenues have been sending up plumes of smoke among highrises since dawn.

“We closed the avenue because this is an important day for everyone. Everyone knows how important the retirement system is especially for youth, women, and rural workers,” Vitor Quarenta, a Worker’s Party (PT) activist told teleSUR. He says Bolsonaro’s proposals will affect human rights and quality of life, "especially for young people like myself.”

"Yes, we have to stop everything!" The sign reads, "The general strike did not cause chaos. It was chaos that caused the general strike."

According to local media, the rejection of the administration's neoliberal reforms are uniting those across a multitude of sectors, including bankers, teachers, students, professors, metal workers, healthcare workers, water and sewage workers, transportation workers, electricians, and civil servants from all over the country.

Bolsonaro's social security reform bill, which he says will restore public finances, seeks to raise the minimum retirement age and workers' contributions. It also includes provisions that eliminate labor protections for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

Currently, in Brazil, workers receive a full retirement that is 80 percent of their highest contribution during the 35 years of contributions, for men, and 30 years, for woman.

If the proposal is approved by Brazil's Congress, the minimum retirement age will be 62 for women and 65 for men.

teleSUR correspondent, Brian Mier reporting from Sao Paulo says that the president's plan would transfer the management of the social security system to the private sector and banks, based on Chile's privatized pension model.

"A man who says this is not my president: 'the dictatorship's mistake was to torture instead of killing,' Jair Bolsonaro."

“For 24 hours, the federal government and reform-minded businessmen will feel the impacts of popular discontent in their pocketbooks,” commented Brasil de Fato newspaper.

The Homeless Workers Movement (MTST) and the Landless Workers Movement Terra (MST) are also participating in the general strike affecting hundreds of cities by closing the main highways that connect the nation's interior cities, according to Brazil 247.

"The strike and stoppages... expose the struggle of Brazilian workers who have suffered a lot in recent years, first with a labor reform that made work precarious and now with the social security reform, a perverse project against workers," said Lidice da Mata, a Brazilian Socialist Party Congresswoman and member of the legislature's Social Security Special Commission.

Brazilians are also demanding the government end the massive budget cuts and adjustments to the national higher education system.

On May 15 and May 30, thousands of workers, teachers and students also took to the streets to protests against budget cuts to universities and scientific research institutes. </s> A teacher covers her mouth with a sticker that reads in Portuguese "Bolsonaro out!" in reference to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, during a national strike against cuts in the education budget, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019. Union leaders have called for a strike in the education sector, to denounce the government’s budget freeze for public higher education and plans to open federal universities to private investment. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Thousands of students and teachers have protested federal cuts in education spending in gatherings across Brazil.

Union leaders called for a strike Tuesday in the education sector, denouncing funding cuts from elementary schools to higher public education and plans to open federal universities to private investment.

The government says it is implementing the cuts across the board and in an equal way.

Online news portal G1 registered events in 72 cities Tuesday but the turnout did not match the huge crowds that joined in similar protests in May.

The latest cuts of 348 million reals (about $87 million) happened in July, targeting school textbooks.

The education ministry had already announced earlier this year a 30% cut to university funding and blocked all forthcoming scholarships for master's and doctoral students. </s> Brasilia: Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in 200 cities across Brazil to rally against education spending cuts in the biggest demonstrations yet against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who called marchers "useful idiots and imbeciles."

Brazil's National Student Union called for protests after the Education Ministry said it was freezing nearly a quarter of discretionary spending due to the government's precarious fiscal situation.

Federal education officials this month announced budget cuts of $US1.8 billion ($2.6 billion) for public education, part of a wider government effort to slash spending.

The marches in more than 200 cities, according to a count by the Globo TV network, mark the first national protests against the administration of Bolsonaro, whose poll numbers are falling as he struggles with a weak economy, rising unemployment, an unruly coalition in Congress and infighting within his cabinet. </s> SÃO PAULO -- A general strike in Brazil, called to protest proposed labor and pension changes, practically shut down mass transit in São Paulo, the country's biggest city, and disrupted transportation across Brazil Friday.

In São Paulo, the country's financial capital and industrial hub, many bus, metro and train lines weren't operating Friday morning, and major roads and arteries were blocked by protesters, according to city authorities. In Brasília, the capital, access to the city's international airport was also blocked by protesters, TV images showed.

Local news media reported that some flights have been canceled because of the strike, though the country's airport regulator declined to attribute the cancellations to the labor action.

The strike was called by some of Brazil's largest unions. Many businesses, banks and schools closed, and the Força Sindical union said some factories have also shut down.

Protesters are trying to stop the government of President Michel Temer from cutting back the country's generous pension system and from reducing some worker protections. Mr. Temer says both changes are needed to reignite the country's economy.

Over the past two years, Brazil has suffered through its worst economic recession on record, which has slashed tax revenue and made the proposed changes even more urgent, some economists say.

The pension proposal, which is currently still in a committee in the lower house of Congress, would close loopholes that for decades have allowed Brazilians to retire in their mid-50s with pensions as high as their latest salary. That situation has led to social-security costs eating up about half of the nation's budget.

Mr. Temer already faces resistance in Congress to the unpopular pension overhaul, and Friday's strike could make its passage even more difficult while forcing the administration to scale back an already watered-down proposal, according to Luciano Rostagno, Latin America strategist at Banco Mizuho, in São Paulo.

"The government might have to make even more concessions" to get it passed, he said. Some version of the plan is likely to be approved, but a weakened proposal might mean Brazil's next government will be forced to make further changes, Mr. Rostagno added.

The labor law proposal, which on Wednesday was approved in the lower house of Brazil's Congress and will now move on to the Senate, would overhaul some of the country's 1940s-era labor code as policy makers seek to kindle an economic recovery.

Included in the bill are proposals designed to reduce or scrap mandatory union dues, make it harder for workers to sue their employers, and expand the scope for flexible work arrangements and temporary employment contracts.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com and Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@wsj.com </s> General strike in Brazil to protest changes to labor laws and pensions system

Public transport largely came to a halt across much of Brazil on Friday as protesters blocked roads and scuffled with police in a general strike to protest proposed changes to labor laws and the pension system. It is the first general strike in over two decades.

It is going to be the biggest strike in the history of Brazil, said Paulo Pereira da Silva, the president of trade union group, Forca Sindical.

President Michel Temer's administration argues that more flexible labor rules will revive a moribund economy and warns the pension system will go bankrupt without changes. Unions and other groups called for the strike, saying that the changes before Congress will make workers too vulnerable and strip away too many benefits.

Strikers are opposed to the pensions overhaul, which will be voted on in Congress next week and which could set the minimum retirement age at 65 for men and 62 for women. Public sector workers have been able to retire at much earlier ages.

A congressional bill to weaken labor laws also progressed earlier in the week, and the country is experiencing an ever unfolding corruption scandal, which has been linked to many top politicians, fuelling further public discontent.

In Sao Paulo, the country's largest city, most commuter trains and metro lines were stopped during the height of morning commute, and buses stayed off the roads. Later in the morning, several metro lines, trains and suburban buses began offering service. In Rio de Janeiro, buses ran partial service.

Protesters in both cities set up roadblocks, placing barricades and starting fires in the streets. In Sao Paulo, protesters carrying signs calling for Temer's ouster blocked lanes of major highways.

Police used tear gas to break up protesters blocking roads to Congonhas Airport, the smaller of Sao Paulo's two airports. A group of homeless people and activists blocked a road to the larger Guarulhos Airport. Both, however, were open.

Protesters at Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro created confusion by running through the terminal and pushing down the line dividers at check-in counters. Also in Rio, protesters blocked a major road and scuffled with police who tried to dislodge them. Police fired tear gas, and protesters threw stones at buses in a nearby terminal.

There were also street barricades in Belo Horizonte and in the capital Brasilia where government offices and buildings were heavily guarded with militarized personnel.

Brazil's economy is in a deep recession, and many Brazilians are frustrated with Temer's government. Temer has argued that the proposed changes will benefit Brazilians in the long run. But with so many out of work, many feel they can ill afford any cuts to their benefits.
In response to a controversial pension reform proposal and cuts in the education budget, a general strike by over 40 million workers takes place in Brazil. Demonstrations are held in over 80 cities across the country.