Since its foundation in 1983, CUT has increasingly counted on the participation of workers on both its deliberative and organizational levels. The paper describes in detail how and by what means the specific demands of public sector workers have an influence over CUT. The public and state employee's relative clout with CUT is presented through an analysis of their participation on the entity's national congresses, in State and national director's board levels, and through their relative weight inside the CUT's unionism, both in number of affiliations and paying members. In addition, at the same time that the article focuses on the influence of public sector unionism over CUT's political decisions concerning State reform, it also analyzes CUT's position in the debate about the constitutional reform implemented on Fernando Henrique Cardoso's first mandate (1995-1998). In this section the article tries to identify the main reasons for the breakdown of the negotiations between the government and the union confederations concerning the Brazilian social security system.
CUT; Corporativism; Public sector; Unionism; Social Security system
