In direct contradiction to the tragic events occurring in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan (among other states), the rights of public workers in Brazil got a huge boost this Friday (11th). President Dilma Rousseff and Planning Minister Miriam Belchior signed into law an ordinance requiring all state-owned or partially state-owned companies with more than 200 employees to include worker representatives on their respective boards of directors. This includes gigantic multinationals, such as Petrobras, Eletrobras, and Banco do Brasil and at least 56 other companies with majority federal ownership.
The selection of worker representatives will be done by democratic election in which all employees of the company participate. The President commented, "The presence of workers on the boards... is strategic for the company and it is strategic for the country." She also used the occasion to criticize the various privatizations and attempted privatizations which occurred in the past and praised the workers and labor leaders as "responsible for the preservation" of the property of the Brazilian people. Dilma commented as well on the unfortunate absence of ex-President Lula from the meeting, as this law was something he had championed for many years.