Author:

Lucas Nascimento Ferraz Costa

Abstract:

The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the role of the Inter-Union Department of Parliamentary Advisory (DIAP) in the 1987-88 constituent process. The organization was able to unify the consensual demands of the working class, uniting the politically divided trade union entities of the period into a single project for the Constituent Assembly. In doing so, DIAP changed the trade union agenda of the time, one of the reasons that explains the success of the workers’ lobby in the National Constituent Assembly (ANC). In the research, we divided the organization’s activities into two phases: before and during the Constituent Assembly. Before, from 1983, when it was created, we analyzed the process of forming the consensual project, which involved the elaboration of technical studies and negotiations with trade union leaders. During the work in the ANC, we analyzed the influential lobbying practiced by DIAP, showing the political conflicts faced by the organization in each phase of the process. We understand that DIAP was a central actor in defending the interests of workers, managing to convince labor unions, left-wing political parties, and progressive constituent assembly members to act in accordance with its project. This was a delicate pact, only possible due to the particularities of the constituent process. The Constituent Assembly provided the opportunity for lobbies to seek important gains, approving their interests in constitutional norms. DIAP is one of the most important products of this political reality. The support given to the organization to act on behalf of a class is explained by its institutional design, which adapted to the lack of organization and preparedness of labor unions in the face of the importance of the constituent process.