ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes the relationship between President João Goulart and the main leaders of the Brazilian labor movement in the early 1960s, focusing on the elections to the coun try's most important official trade union, the Nacional Confederation of Industrial Workers (CNTI). It is argued that Goulart's support for a trabalhista-communist ticket to the CNTI in December 1961 was essential to set up the General Workers' Command (CGT), a parallel central trade union which played a major role in social conflicts at the time. It is also argued that, due to the increasing independence shown by these labor leaders, from 1963 on Goulart ar ticulated (without success) several strategies to win them over, first aiming at the creation of an alternative central trade union, and then sup porting an opposition ticket to the CNTI elec tions of January 1964. Goulart's defeat in both episodes was essential for leftist turn, leading to the 1964 coup.
Keywords:
João Goulart; Labor movement; CNTI; CGT