Brazil Gripped by General Strike Over Austerity Measures<br />By SIMON ROMEROAPRIL 28, 2017<br />RIO DE JANEIRO — A general strike disrupted cities around Brazil on Friday as unions marshaled resistance to austerity measures proposed by the scandal-ridden government of President Michel Temer, reflecting his struggle to persuade voters<br />that his proposals to overhaul pension systems and labor laws are necessary.<br />Camila Oliveira said that Temer is sinking the country,<br />Amid such developments, some supporters of Mr. Temer’s overhauls say he also needs to elicit sacrifices from members of the political<br />and economic elite, or at least do a better job of explaining how the austerity measures could eventually help most Brazilians.<br />Others have already happened, like outsourcing." Still, even at a time when the leftist Workers’ Party of Ms. Rousseff<br />and her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is also marred by its own graft scandals, the ability of unions to organize the strike reflected broad dissatisfaction with Mr. Temer and his allies in Brazil’s political establishment.<br />Marco Basaglia said that The strike is completely justified, but I’d be fired if I didn’t go to work,<br />Justice Ricardo Lewandowski said it would be unfair for a civil servant carrying out multiple duties to get "paltry remuneration." The ruling, in a country where roughly half the population scrapes by on a minimum wage of about $4,000 a year, may reinforce perceptions<br />that Brazil’s most privileged public employees are finding ways to enhance their wealth at a time when the authorities are pressing for austerity measures.
