National Street Vendors Commission

The project’s goal is to instigate the coordination of a national network of street vendors from the cities hosting World Cup games, in a manner that is participatory, democratic and which promotes solidarity, so that they can makes demands and be involved in public decision-making, at the municipal and federal levels, with regard to the right to street commerce in these cities as well as document violations before and during the World Cup.

– Preparations for the nation-wide meeting;

– Nation-wide meeting and implementation of an agenda for taking action and making demands;

– Development and publication of informative materials containing the National Street Vendors Commission’s demands and plans that were approved during the nation-wide meeting;

– Creation and maintenance of a blog by the National Street Vendors Commission that will be contributed to by members of the Commission and contain the activities and results achieved in the scope of this project, including updates and news about street vending in Brazil.

Street vendors in Brazil, especially those in the twelve cities hosting the World Cup, have had to deal with repression on the part of city governments that demonstrate an intent to “clean up” the urban landscape, hiding any evidence of poverty. In recent years, a systematic policy of revoking licenses and non-issuance of new licenses has been established. In some cases, street vendors have been removed from their locations as the consequence of stadium construction projects, urban revitalization projects in areas of interest to the city as well as other urban infrastructure projects. Street commerce has been effectively cornered in a turbulent zone between legality and illegality.

Street vendors, who are majoritarily women seeking to provide for the subsistence of their families, are often criminalized and subjected to arbitrary treatment, including physical violence. With the General Law of the World Cup, which establishes a perimeter of two kilometers around FIFA events, where only officially sponsored commerce may occur, the situation has become even worse for these workers, since application to work in these areas occurs through a bidding process generally controlled by large corporations.

The mission of the National Street Vendors Commission is to build a national network of organizations that represent street vendors, operating at the municipal and federal levels, to strengthen and coordinate among vendors who are struggling to defend their rights and to end the constant criminalization and disrespect to which these workers have been subjected.

The National Street Vendors Commission integrates the National Network of Popular World Cup Committees (ANCOP) and has the political support of the Unified Workers’ Central (CUT), Central of People’s Movements (CMP) and the Global Women’s March (MMM). The commission is a member of StreetNet International, which is composed of organizations representing various countries.

The project allowed for hiring a communications assistant and preparing and holding the Third National Meeting of Street Vendors. The event went very well, with a discussion about the principles, values and priorities of the National Street Vendors Network. It also allowed for the formalization and regulation of the National Street Vendors Commission, as well as joint strategies and actions in view of the World Cup. A workshop for learning how to use digital tools was also arranged, with the goal of holding virtual meetings through Facebook. Other actions were the participation in the First Meeting of the People Afflicted by the World Cup and the preparation of a letter of demands that was sent to the federal government. A communication channel was also created. A blog was set up in addition to using social media.