Paulo Renato Paim (born March 15, 1950) is a Brazilian

steelworker Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

turned

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He served as a federal deputy from Rio Grande do Sul for the Workers' Party (''Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT'') from 1987 to 2002. On 2002, he was elected

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

from the same state. Re-elected in 2010, he is currently the only

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see " preto"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. ...

Senator. He also served as Vice-President of trade union center

Central Única dos Trabalhadores Central Única dos Trabalhadores ( en, Unified Workers' Central), commonly known by the acronym CUT, is the main national trade union center in Brazil. History CUT was formed on 28 August 1983 in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, during the ...

(CUT) from 1984 to 1986.

Early life

Paulo Renato Paim was born in

Caxias do Sul Caxias do Sul (), is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, situated in the state's mountainous Serra Gaúcha region. It was established by Italian immigrants on June 20, 1890. Today it is the second largest city in the state of Rio Gran ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, on March 15, 1950. He became a trained steelworker after receiving a professional education degree from

SENAI :For the Malaysian town with the same name, see Senai.'' Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial (SENAI), Portuguese language for ''National Service for Industrial Training'' is a network of profitable secondary level professional schools e ...

. Paim worked on Abramo Eberle and Forjasul metallurgical factories before becoming the president of the

Canoas Canoas (), which earned city status in 1939, is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. With more than 340,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Porto Alegre conurbation and has the second highest GDP in the state. It is also ...

steelworkers trade union on 1981. Two years later, he became Secretary-General of the

, prior to becoming the Vice-President of that same organization on 1984.

Political career

In 1985, Paim became a member of the Workers' Party (''Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT'') and, in the following year, became a federal deputy for the party. As a constituent deputy, he would engage in the writing of the current Constitution of Brazil however he and his party (''Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT'') did not sign nor approve that Constitution to this day. From 1989 to 1991, Paim was the deputy leader for the PT in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

. From 1993 to 1994, he was the head of the Chamber's Labour, Administration and Public Service committee. In 1997, he authored a bill which would be enacted by President

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist, and former metalworker who is the president-elect of Brazil. A member of the Workers' Par ...

as the Elderly Statute, a set of laws which guarantees the rights of elderly people in Brazil. He became nationally known after the adoption of US$100 minimum wage, which he had proposed. Paim would later spark controversy, in 2001, after he ripped a copy of the Constitution as a protest to a bill seeking to change the

Consolidation of Labor Laws The Consolidation of Labor Laws Decree Law No. 5452 ( pt, Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho, CLT) is the decree which governs labor relations in Brazil. It was issued in 1943 by Getúlio Vargas, President of Brazil and was officially adopted on ...

. In 2002, Paim was elected to the Federal Senate after a close race with fellow party member Emília Fernandes, the Senator for Rio Grande do Sul. From 2003 to 2005, he was Vice-President of the Senate. From 2007 to 2009, he was President of the upper house's Human Rights and Participative Legislation committee. In the Senate, Paim became known for defending higher

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

checks for

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

people. In 2010, Paim was re-elected Senator for Rio Grande do Sul with almost 34% of the valid votes. He received over 3.8 million votes; 479,000 more than Governor Tarso Genro, a fellow member of PT.

References

External links

Paulo Paim's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paim, Paulo Living people Afro-Brazilian people 1950 births Brazilian politicians of African descent Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Rio Grande do Sul Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians People from Caxias do Sul