Folks,
Greetings from the Burgh, but the big trade union story today is down in Bolivia and a big shakeup in the presidential race in Brazil.
Bolivia Trade Union Leader Charged with Terrorism
Over the past week, Bolivia has been rocked by a general strike. Labor, Indigenous, and farmworker activists have shut down highways across the country and even occupied one airport. The workers are demanding a series of reforms from the right-wing president of Bolivia.
Now the Bolivian government has issued arrest warrants for the leaders of the general strike. They are charging them with terrorism.
Mario Argollo, executive secretary of the main union federation Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), vowed to fight the charges.
“They will not subdue us in the struggle we have undertaken,” Argollo said in a statement. “They are trying to silence us as leaders with popular actions and criminal charges.”
For more, check out Common Dreams, which has a great roundup of all the news from Bolivia.
New Bolsonaro Scandal Boosts Lula in the Polls
All spring, Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, have been polling neck-and-neck in the Brazilian presidential election set to take place this October. Lula has been particularly hurt by the collapse of Banco Master.
The collapse of the Banco Master last November led to over $1.6 million creditors being owed $7.6 billion. Investigative reports have revealed that the bank’s owner Daniel Vorcaro, a close Bolsonaro political ally, used financial favors to curry political favor with various politicians.
Since President Lula’s son, businessman Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, nicknamed “Lulinha,” had a large business account in Banco Master, the corporate media has repeatedly tried to argue that Lula is somehow linked to the scandal. However, so far, no evidence has emerged that “Lulinha” did anything wrong.
Even though Lulinha has repeatedly let media outlets look through his full accounts with the bank, speculation has existed in the media that more investigations may reveal that the Lula family played a large role in the collapse of the bank.
However, last week, the Intercept Brasil released leaked audio and texts between Banco Master head Daniel Vocaro and Flavio Bolsonaro. In the recording, Bolsonaro can be heard asking Vocaro for $26 million to fund a biopic about his father Jair Bolsonaro, set to star the controversial American actor Jim Caviezel.
The budget request for the Bolsonaro biopic is nearly twice the combined budgets of I’m Still Here ($8.9 million), which won the Oscar for best international feature in 2025, and The Secret Agent ($5.6 million), nominated for best picture in 2026.
Many accused Bolsonaro of asking for a bribe from Vocaro by funding this film at levels that exceed any other film in Brasil.
New polling conducted by Bloomberg shows, after details of the scandal were released, that Lula now leads Flavio Bolsonaro by a margin of 48.9% to 41.8%. A month prior, the two had been tied and Brazilian political analysts credit the Manco Baster scandal for enabling Lula to open a wide lead over Bolsonaro.
“The blow to Flávio’s campaign is brutal – by far the worst news for his campaign so far,” Brazilian sociologist Celso Rocha de Barros told the Guardian. “Flávio’s anti-establishment credentials, which helped him draw level with Lula, could quickly erode…. The budget is completely out of step with a national production, and the foreign participants are not top-tier. The way this money was raised still needs to be investigated.”
For more on the scandal, check out the excellent publication De-Linking Brazil.
Help Cover Brazilian Presidential Election This Fall
While many left publications in the United States cover immigration, few provide regular coverage of what's happening in Latin America. At Payday Report, we believe that our politics and economies of the Americas are linked together and it's important that we cover them at local, national, and international levels.
This fall, Payday Report intends to cover the Brazilian presidential election on the ground. We did it in 2022 and intend to go back this time for more coverage.
2,000 World Cup Workers Vow Strikes Over ICE Presence
This week, over 2,000 SoFi Stadium workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 11, voted to strike this week if ICE was present at their stadium during the World Cup.
“ICE should have no role in these games. We do not want to live in fear coming to work, or fear being detained going home,” Isaac Martinez, a concession cook said at a strike rally. “If we do not reach an agreement, my colleagues and I are ready to strike.”
For more, check out Al-Jazeera.
Montreal Strippers to Strike During F1 Event
In Montreal, some strippers are organizing a strike during the F1 Formula race weekend, when hundreds of thousands of tourists are expected to visit the Canadian city. They say that strippers should no longer be treated as “independent contractors” under Canadian law, but as regular employees with full rights.
"Being recognized as an employee, your employers have to guarantee your safety and ... your mental health at work," stripper Adore Goldman told the CBC. "Like sexual violence that happened in the clubs in the past, if we were employees, the person could get compensated if it was a work accident because it is a work accident."
Long Island Rail Road Reaches Deal to End Strike
Finally, the Long Island Rail Road reached a tentative agreement with the union to end a strike of 3,500 workers on the nation’s largest railroad. Both sides celebrated the contract as a win.
The full details of the contract have not been released yet, but the Amsterdam News has a look at some of the highlights.
Alright folks, that’s all for today. Keep sending tips, comments, complaints, and cooking recipes to melk@paydayreport.com
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