Paulo
Paiva 
Paulo Paiva is vice-president of the Inter-American Development Bank, and has
held the positions of Brazilian Minister of Labor and Minister of Planning,
both under President Cardoso. Trained as a demographer, Mr. Paiva has researched
the effects of population aging on the Brazilian labor market, and is an expert
on the issue of population growth and its consequences for employment and government
expenditure.
Challenges'
background
paper.
Prof.
Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida 
Prof. Tavares de Almeida is a professor in the
Department
of Political Science at the University of São Paulo specializing
in political institutions and organized interest groups in Latin America.
Her current research is on privatization of state enterprises and the redefinition
of the boundaries of state and market in Brazil. Professor Tavares de Almeida
has published on the privatization of telecommunication firms and the political
consequences for national enterprises of the growing flow of foreign capital
into the Brazilian economy.
Challenges'
background
paper.
Luiz Marinho
Since 1996, Mr. Marinho has been president of the Metal Workers Union of the
ABC, the main automotive industrial region in Brazil. In 1998, he negotiated
an unprecedented agreement with Volkswagen Brazil, reducing the working day
in order to save jobs. He also led the strike in one of Ford's main factories,
after the corporation announced a mass layoff. Instead of keeping the workers
out of the factory in protest, he had them go to work every day with their
families. Mr.Marinho has been nominated by CNN and Time magazine as one of
the top 50 Latin-American leaders for the 21st century.
Paulo
Pereira da Silva
Mr. Da Silva is president of Força Sindical, one of the two main labor
federations in Brazil, and of the Metal Workers Union of São Paulo and
Moji das Cruzes, the largest union in Latin America. Born in the rural area
of the southern state of Paraná, Mr. da Silva moved to São Paulo
in 1976 to become a product inspector in the then burgeoning industrial economy
of the city. As a labor organizer, Mr. da Silva is known for his ability to
negotiate with sectors outside the labor movement, obtaining substantive gains
for workers, and making Força Sindical the fastest growing labor federation
in Brazil under the motto of "results-oriented organizing."
Challenges'
background
paper.
