Arrest of trade unionists: In February 2012, the government of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro States refused to negotiate with striking police officers and fire fighters. Demonstrations were criminalised and several leaders were arrested. In Brazil, fire fighters and police officers are military personnel and as such are forbidden from organising in trade unions or engaging in industrial action.

Restriction of pickets: In November 2012, public health workers in the State of Santa Catarina went on strike for over 30 days to demand salary increases. An official order by the public prosecutor determined that industrial action could involve up to 70 per cent of workers and that pickets could only occur 200 metres away from workplaces and without the use of communication material such as banners or leaflets.

Violence against trade unionists: In January 2013, Cicero Guedes, a leader of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra (MST) was ambushed and killed near a sugar cane industrial complex. A former sugar cane cutter, he was cycling home from a meeting to negotiate a solution to the disputes between rural families and the Usina Cambahyba, a complex of seven farms totalling 3,500 hectares.

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