Students gather 3,600 signatures to protect stallholders jobs in Brazil

A Nova Democracia reports on the situation of the stallholder from the Federal University of Santa Catalina, in Florianópolis, who were prevented to set up their stands since November 4 due to a suspected food intoxication that happened inside the university canteen. The intoxication took place in September, and since then the direction of the university started to try to avoid the sell of food by the stallholders.

However, since October students have been pressuring to improve the canteen, because the hygienic conditions were deplorable. A video of a cockroach in the plates was circulating in social media and the students mobilized to demand better conditions. The Union of Educational Workers of Public Institution of High Education of Santa Catarina State filed a report on the case. In this report, other hygienic failures were included, such as overflow of sewage in the restaurant’s kitchen during rainy periods, as well as the unhealthy and dangerous working conditions inside the kitchen which, according to the complaint, is not of the appropriate size for the number of daily meals prepared.

But, the university decided to blame the stallholders and expel them since November. They even received threatens from the direction of the center: “They even threatened (…) she said that if we came on Monday the security guard would take the stall away by force” stated one stallholder.

Showing the collaboration of the students and workers, the Marauí Movement began to work with them to help them, from staying in their posts to prevent the management of the center from removing them, distributing leaflets and collecting signatures, which was a success.

“After more than 20 days of mobilization and more than 3,600 signatures collected, the Maruí Movement and the stallholders delivered the document to the rectory, during the University Council session this Tuesday, November 26. Upon entering the session, the Movement read out the letter and demanded that the rectory commit to no longer removing the stallholders until their situation was regularized.

After some hesitation on the part of the university’s Administration, the rector of UFSC, Irineu Manoel de Souza, in an audio given to Movimento Maruí, stated that the permanence of the stallholders will be guaranteed until their regularization, through the University’s extension project:

“We are going to renegotiate, just as we did with the fair, also with the people who sell the sweets there (…), there will be no intervention from university security in relation to the sale of the sweets.”