Brazil’s military dictatorship seemed invulnerable—until metalworkers went on strike

April 2, 2025

São Bernardo do Campo is a working-class neighborhood on the edge of the city of Sao Paulo.

Gritty. Industrial.

The Detroit of Brazil.

In the late 1970s, this is where hundreds of thousands of workers labor in the factories.

Metal workers.

Assembling the cars that run across the highways of Brazil and South America.

Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz.

But in the late 1970s… Brazil’s economic miracle is over.

Wages are squeezed. Inflation spiraling.

Factory workers have a hard time providing for their families.

2,000 metal workers building trucks at a Saab-Scania factory are the first to cross their arms and demand higher salaries.

The movement spreads to other factories across the automobile sector.

It’s only the beginning.

Brazil’s military dictatorship still holds strong. It’s been in power for almost 15 years.

But workers have had enough. They are demanding more.

March, 1979. A new wave a strikes hits the factories of Sao Bernardino do Campo and ABC Paulista.

200,000 metal workers walk off the job. They demand better working conditions and substantial wage hikes.

The government declares the strike illegal. But the workers push on. The country hasn’t seen protests like this in years. It’s a sign of the weakening of the military regime. The beginning of the end… though that end would take years to come.

One charismatic 33-year-old metal worker leads the way. His name is Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva. He has a thick beard. A defiant stare. And he speaks the language of the working class. Of a poor upbringing in northeastern Brazil.

He leads huge rallies in the Vila Euclides Stadium. 150,000 people on May 1, International Workers Day.

Two weeks later, the workers win, accepting a 60% salary increase.

It is only the beginning.

The next year, 1980, Lula leads even larger strikes. They demand a 40-hour work week, scheduled salary adjustments for inflation. Direct elections.

This time, the government responds with repression. Lula and a dozen other labor leaders are jailed for more than a month. Still workers press on.

Rallies. Pickets. May 1. The strike, this time, can’t continue. But a general strike will ripple across Brazil just two months later… 3 million workers walk off the job. The first general strike in almost 20 years.

The military regime cracks down. Raiding unions, tracking down leaders, and arresting workers.

But the increasing labor organizing and actions over the last two years, as well as the tremendous victories… they are all a sign of the things to come. The opening up of the regime. The democracy that would finally return to Brazil within five years.

And the man who two decades later in 2002 would finally win the presidency: Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva.

This is episode 15 of Stories of Resistance — a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange’s Human Rights in Action program.

Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.

This week, in remembrance of the anniversary of Brazil’s military coup on March 31, 1964, we are taking a deep dive in Brazil. All three episodes this week look at stories of resistance in Brazil. From protest music, to general strikes against the dictatorship, to the Free Lula vigil in more recent times.

Written and produced by Michael Fox.

Here is a link to a Spotify playlist of songs written in resistance to Brazil’s military dictatorship.

If you like what you hear, please subscribe, like, share, comment, or leave a review. You can also follow Michael’s reporting, and support at www.patreon.com/mfox.

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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Michael Fox.