Number 59, December 21, 1992.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR

This is the last bulletin which we will produce this year. We hope to have our next bulletin ready for Thursday January 07. In the meantime we would like to wish all our readers a very happy Christmas and 1993. We would like to thank all of you for your interest during 1992 especially those who contacted us to offer us your support, comments and suggestions. We look forward to continued contact during 1993.

This issue of our bulletin comes in the form of a case study prepared by the Intercongregation Justice and Peace Group in Sao Paulo. Although the injustice described happened last Christmas, the women involved have not succeeded in resolving their situation. We invite you to send a protest letter to the judge who is responsible for the case; his address is at the end of the case study. We know that each and every letter which arrives will be instrumental in achieving a just solution for this case.

CHRISTMAS LOCK-OUT

Iracema Maria Pereira has worked for 7 years as a seamstress at the Jorge Calfat Clothing Factory in Greater Sao Paulo, Brazil. Last December (1992), she remembers, was one of the busiest months she had experienced there. "It was a real rush. There were so many clothes that had to be assembled. Every day there were more and more orders to complete. When I had finally finished everything, I told Mr. Calfat I was done. He said, 'No, you're not", and from behind his back he pulled out the dress shirt he would wear for New Year's Eve. I was to iron it, which I did. Then I folded it and wrapped it up.

"I left the factory on December 23. After Christmas I went to visit my mother in Minas Gerais. While there, I got the call from my daughter saying that in early January the Calfat factory had closed, and all the sewing machines. were gone."

Iracema returned to Sao Paulo to find that Jorge Calfat had removed all the sewing machines from the factory on January 1, 1992. Then he "disappeared". He took off without paying the workers' December salaries, overtime, 13th salary (the end-of-the-year payment guaranteed by Brazilian law to all workers), holiday pay, and the FGTS payment (a type of severance pay to which all workers contribute).

The first thing the seamstresses did was look for Calfat. In their search, they discovered that he had carefully planned this factory closing. In fact, he had already declared bankruptcy before the end of the year and the holiday shutdown. And, with the removal of the sewing machines, he left nothing that could be sold to pay the debt he owed his workers. Jorge Calfat himself was nowhere to be found.

Iracema met with the other 127 Calfat seamstresses and, with the help of the Clothing and Seamstresses Union of Sao Paulo and Osasco, decided what to do. They filed a legal suit against Calfat demanding their back pay and benefits. They were able to find Calfat's father, who lives in one of Sao Paulo's wealthiest neighborhoods. After attempts to communicate with the owner through his father, the seamstresses decided that their only alternative was to camp out in front of the father's mansion.

Thus, since early February (1992), about 30 women, including Iracema, are living on the Rua Nicaragua sidewalk at the door of the mansion owned by Jorge Calfat's father. The camp consists of 4 canvas tents donated by the Union - two tents for sleeping, one used as a kitchen, and one as a storehouse where a portable toilet is located. The women use kerosene lamps for light, and a neighbor across the street supplies them with water.

Using four manual sewing machines, the sidewalk campers make quilts, cushions, stuffed toys, decorations, tea towels, and do mending for the neighbors. According to Iracema, even Mr. Calfat's wife gives them her mending. The money earned is divided among the women and goes toward paying their families' expenses. Everything they have in the camp was donated by grassroots movements, unions, and individual supporters.

In order to keep things going, the women take turns staying in the camp. Iracema lives at the camp 5 nights a week, only going to her favela home on weekends to be with her daughter and granddaughter. She says sometimes she has a hard time believing that she lives on a sidewalk. "Sometimes I say to myself, 'Is this really happening?' But other times it feels normal. When Sunday morning comes, I know I have to get back to the camp."

What motivates Iracema and the other women who remain encamped in front of the Calfat mansion is their belief in the struggle for justice. They are seeking compensation for the services they rendered at the Calfat factory, and they are demanding that justice be done to Jorge Calfat.

Calfat's actions are an example of an owner seeking to make a quick profit, at the expense of his workers, and then literally running away with the money. Such actions are not unusual in an economy where the profit rates for manufacturing industries are 53%, in contrast to most industrialized countries, where the average profit rates are between 25% and 30%.

The 128 Calfat seamstresses are among the 200,000 workers who have lost their jobs in Sao Paulo industries in 1992. As a result of the recession which has lasted over two years, there are over one million unemployed persons in Greater Sao Paulo alone. This rising unemployment rate is intrinsically linked with political decisions made by Brazilian authorities in order to meet International Monetary Fund and World Bank requirements. It is just one of the violent social consequences of an economic belt-tightening that takes food off the table of poor and working-class Brazilians in its attempt to make Brazil into a more efficient cog in the global economy.

However, as they fight for legal justice, the Calfat women also have to eat. The selling of the goods they sew in the camp parallels the activities of many Brazilians who survive day-to-day by working in the mushrooming informal economy. This work can put food on the table today, but because there are no provisions for health care or social security, a worker's future is precarious. Iracema and her co-workers have dropped from a relatively stable niche in the Brazilian work place, with health insurance and retirement benefits, to total insecurity. This process is happening all over the country. Industries are closing their doors, and the sidewalks are filling up with popcorn sellers, underwear vendors, and tables filled with anything that can be sold.

As a group of foreign missionaries living and working in Sao Paulo, we present this story to you as an example of the economic injustice the Brazilian people are experiencing. We recognize that this is just one situation among many throughout the country. Pastorally, we sense the need to be in solidarity with the Calfat women and their legal struggle. However, we also ask you to take this reflection to a deeper level, asking questions about the global economic directions being taken by our governments and international institutions. What is "the new world order"? Who is paying for this vision? What should we as concerned people be doing in our lives in order that the burden doesn't always fall on the Iracemas of the world?

As you reflect on these questions, we invite you to express your concern and solidarity with the women of Calfat by writing to the judge hearing their case. The process is going very slowly, and letters from outside the country could help move it along. Letters can be sent to:

Juiz Fernando Antonio da Cunha,

38 Vara Civel,

Processo 94/91,

Forum Joao Mendes,

Praca Joao Mendes,

01501-000 Sao Paulo,

S.P., BRAZIL

The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.