National Consultative Labour Council

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National Consultative Labour Council

In the wake of the recent debates in the Brazilian National Congress, it has become apparent that there is a need for a framework for the coordination of the Brazilian labour movement. During said debates, the wholehearted dedication of certain elements among the national bourgeoisie and their petite bourgeois fascist proxies to forcefully halt peaceful, humanitarian reforms beneficial to the whole of the nation which in the form of the Bill to Ratify Hours of Work Convention of 1919 the overwhelming majority of the representatives of the Brazilian people supported, was shown. Likewise, it was shown that the people has the capacity to defeat the undemocratic will of said elements once it unites around common goals.

Therefore, the National Consultative Labour Council is hereby declared. It shall act as a forum for dialogue between the principal representatives of the organised labour movement, to discuss matters relevant to the labouring classes of Brazil, such as future possible solidarity action and union coordination.

Founding members of the National Consultative Labour Council are as follows:

• The General Confederation of Labour of Brazil (Confederacao Geral do Trabalho do Brasil)
• The Brazilian Worker's Confederation (Confederação Brasileira dos Trabalhadores)
• The Workers and Peasants Block (Bloco Operário e Camponês)
• The Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata)
• The Socialist Revolutionary Party (Partido Socialista Revolucionario)

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Communique no. 1

The National Consultative Labour Council (NCLC) condemns the failure of the Inquiry into Farquhar Unlimited bill recently proposed to the Brazilian National Congress.

Given the significant economic concessions granted to the company Farquhar Unlimited by the Government, and those even more significant ones which Mr. Percival Farquhar has requested, a simple inquiry and audit is highly justified.

It would be so for any company, but for Farquhar Unlimited more than any other, given frequent and substantial allegations of inhumane and even outright illegal treatment by Mr. Farquhar against his Brazilian labourers on the railway lines built and operated by his company, especially in regards to the 4,000 workers left behind following his 1908-1910 work on the São Paulo-Rio Grande Railroad in a breach of contract, and those unknown thousands of workers (estimated anywhere between 6,000 and 30,000, primarily of indigenous origin) killed by the unhealthy and wholly unfit conditions they were subjected to during the 1907-1912 construction of the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad.

The necessity of an audit becomes ever more relevant considering Mr. Farquhar repeated bankruptcies, most prominently in October 1914, when all his investor lost all their capital and the business crumbled, due to Mr. Farquhar's unsustainable practice of issuing debt based on debt. Much of his success, such as it is, has been frequently attributed to nothing but government favours. Whether the foundations which Mr. Farquhar asks the Brazilian people to put their faith and capital into are built upon stone or upon sand is a matter which must be resolved for any future concessions to take place. It is imperative to remember that railroads and other forms of transport infrastructure is the lifeblood of the people - which private citizen, economic business, military unit, government ministry or other entity will be able to survive, should the system crack and shatter due to the corruption, mismanagement, and bankruptcy of private, unregulated and unchecked enterprise?

The National Consultative Labour Council renews the call for an inquiry and audit into Farquhar Unlimited and its subsidiaries by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works, aided by the Federal Department of Public Security and the Indian Protection Service.

Signed,
A. Pereira
E. Leuenroth
J. da Costa Pimenta
F. de Sousa Costa
J. Mangabeira