STUDY Trade Unions in Transformation The CUT’s Experience During the Workers’ Party’s(PT) Governments in Brazil(2003–2016) JOSÉ DARI KREIN AND HUGO DIAS October 2017 n The CUT is the main trade union federation in Brazil and Latin America and the fifth largest in the world, representing 7.8 million unionized workers. CUT has been at the heart of years of progressive economic and social policies under the Left govern­ments of Lula and Dilma Rousseff. Due to its close alliance with the Workers Party, it has been able to influence workers oriented policies and thereby strengthen its structural, associational and institutional power. n However, the years of social progress have provoked a fierce reaction by the politi­cal Right, culminating in the illegitimate impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Currently, retrogressive reforms in areas such as social security and workers’ rights are pushed by the government and are putting the CUT to the test. CUT’s proven abilities to mobilize and to build alliances and its framing capacities will be decisive for strengthening its associational power and regaining its societal power – and for maintaining democracy in Brazil. n Trade Unions in Transformation is an FES project that identifies unions’ power re­sources and capabilities that contribute to successful trade union action. This study features among two dozen case studies from around the world demonstrating how unions have transformed to get stronger.