Lula da Silva officially starts his re-election campaign

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has officially started his fight for re-election. In front of around 20,000 supporters of his Workers' Party (PT) in Sao Bernardo do Campo, he stressed the need to adapt to a changing world of work.

Lula recalled his beginnings as a trade unionist and thanked the workers who believed in him. But it also presented the challenge of reaching a new generation of workers working in a digital, app-based economy and less connected to traditional unions.

According to the central bank, the proportion of those employed in regular employment contracts fell to 38.2 percent, while the number of workers placed via digital platforms rose by 170 percent to 2.1 million. The level of unionization has almost halved to 8.9 percent in the past decade.

Lula explained that his party had to adapt to this new world of work in order to be successful.