The General Secretary of the WFTU held the following speech at the 3rd Congress of CTB Brazil, on August 22nd, 2013 in Sao Paolo:
Dear comrades of CTB,
Dear working people of Brazil,
Comrades and friends from all over the American Continent,
We salute the Congress of CTB, a militant trade union Organization which steadily defends the interests of the working people in your country and the region.
CTB supported and continues to support the World Federation of Trade Unions in the new dynamic course that the WFTU has been driving over the last years with remarkable steady steps for the interest of the international working class.
New members from all the continents have been organized in the WFTU over the last seven years.
International Action Days have been organized by the WFTU for all the crucial issues that concern the working people. CTB has successfully participated and organized activities in Brazil during those days and we want to congratulate you for one more time.
The WFTU has been organizing international Conferences, Meetings, Forums in order to facilitate the exchange of experience and the formation of common positions and action in international level.
The WFTU has intensified its efforts for the organizing of trade union training programs, particularly useful in the contemporary conditions of the class struggle.
The WFTU is stabilizing is presence and intervention to the International Organizations such as the UN in New York, the FAO in Rome, the UNESCO in Paris, the ILO in Geneva.
The WFTU publishes useful and rich materials in international level and it generally has a modern, dynamic, trustworthy image which more and more organizations are trusting as the line of class struggle gains ground and becomes stronger.
We have made important steps, the WFTU is alive, it is active, it has presence, it has a voice, it has class-oriented direction. We all agree. We all recognize this upward course. This is the truth. Some are very worried by this course. But off course, all our friends, all our members are very happy, they feel proud for this course which is a result of the common effort of all our members and friends, of all our cadres in all continents and sectors.
On behalf of the entire leadership of the WFTU I would like in this important Congress of CTB for us to thank all our cadres in their countries and in their sectors who fight steadily, honestly, without being afraid of the difficulties and the autocracy of the capitalists and their governments.
We are committed to continue this course.
However, we cannot be satisfied when in international level the international working class is being pressed up against the wall by an endless attack against the labour rights, the working hours, the collective bargaining, the social security, the retirement ages and rights, the free public Education and Health systems, the cheap and safe housing etc.
