Social movements organize the start of the 'Out with Temer' protests in the streets in 2017.

Social movements and unions from various sectors are already beginning to organize street demonstrations at the start of the year. The central theme will be unified: 'Out with Temer'. Other items on the agenda include pension reform, the anti-corruption package, the Spending Cap Amendment, unemployment, and 'Direct Elections Now'; "The issue that will drive the protests against the government is the fight against pension reform. We will start with this absurd reform proposal and, in the end, we will arrive at the cry of 'Direct Elections Now'," says the president of the Unified Workers' Central, Vagner Freitas.

January 03, 2017, 13:31 AMUpdated June 29, 2018, 09:54 pm

Social movements and unions from various sectors are already beginning to organize street demonstrations at the start of the year. The central theme will be unified: 'Out with Temer'. Other items on the agenda include pension reform, the anti-corruption package, the Spending Cap Amendment, unemployment, and 'Direct Elections Now'; "The issue that will drive the protests against the government is the fight against pension reform. We will start with this absurd reform proposal and, in the end, we will arrive at the cry of 'Direct Elections Now'," says the president of the Unified Workers' Central, Vagner Freitas (Photo: Romulo Faro).

247 - Social movements and unions from various sectors are already starting to organize street demonstrations at the beginning of the year. The central theme will be unified: 'Out with Temer'. Other items on the agenda include pension reform, the anti-corruption package, the spending cap amendment, unemployment, and 'Direct Elections Now'.

"The issue that will drive the protests against the government is the fight against the pension reform. We will start with this absurd reform proposal and, in the end, we will arrive at the cry of 'Direct Elections Now'," says the president of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Vagner Freitas, in a publication by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo.

Besides the CUT (Unified Workers' Central), entities linked to student movements also intend to mobilize. "Right-wing movements will be constrained in defending an indefensible government. We will take to the streets against the pension reform and, mainly, against the PEC (Proposed Constitutional Amendment) on public spending, which ends investments in education and condemns the future of the country," says Carina Vitral, president of the National Union of Students (UNE).

Even the Força Sindical, which has sided with Michel Temer's government, says it is willing to take to the streets to discuss the pension reform. "If the government insists on this pension model, it will be impossible not to protest. Workers cannot let this pass in the way it is presented," said the general secretary of Força Sindical, João Carlos Gonçalves, known as Juruna.

"The fight to defend social rights will intensify. The situation will worsen, and we will approach a state of social upheaval," reiterates Guilherme Boulos, coordinator of the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST).

According to the leader of the MTST (Homeless Workers' Movement), the current situation in Rio, with public sector strikes and frequent protests, can be considered an "example" of what is likely to happen in the country this year. "With the collapse of public services, today's Rio de Janeiro will be tomorrow's Brazil."