[ti:Brazilians Protest against President’s Reform Plan] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.60]Brazilian labor unions, government employees and rural workers held protests on Wednesday [00:09.12]against proposed changes to work rules and aid for retired workers. [00:16.40]One of the largest protests took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city. [00:23.96]Bus and train service was affected. Small street demonstrations around the city slowed traffic. [00:33.48]The Associated Press says traffic was slowed partly [00:37.69]because of a partial transport strike that began Tuesday night. [00:43.76]Later in the day, teachers, union members, [00:48.31]and activists went into the streets of Sao Paulo to protest the proposed changes. [00:56.48]In Brasilia, the capital, over 1,500 hundred protesters [01:02.04]broke into the Finance Ministry's offices and occupied it for several hours. [01:09.56]The demonstrators were protesting Brazilian President [01:13.68]Michel Temer's plan to change labor rules and the social security pension system. [01:21.96]Critics are saying his plan would reduce job security for workers. [01:27.04]They also say it would force many people to work longer to meet requirements for a pension. [01:35.12]It would also reduce government aid for many retirees. [01:40.52]The changes would give businesses fewer restrictions on employment. [01:45.68]Companies would have the ability to set up longer, temporary agreements with workers. [01:52.88]They could require longer work days and use more part-time workers. [01:58.68]The Reuters news service says President Temer and leading lawmakers [02:03.76]have redoubled their support of the pension plan. [02:07.88]They believe that limiting pension benefits and raising the retirement age [02:13.52]are necessary to fix the country's economic problems. [02:18.49]Brazil is currently in one of its worst recessions in more than a century. [02:26.56]Temer says that without changes, the financial system could collapse. [02:32.84]In a speech, he said his plan would keep Brazil from having to make the changes [02:39.04]that European countries like Portugal and Greece [02:43.40]were forced to make to rescue their economies. [02:47.72]On Wednesday, Moody's Investors Service amended its ratings [02:52.28]for Brazil's sovereign credit rating from "negative" to "stable." [02:58.28]The service said it was making the change because of Brazil's fiscal reforms. [03:04.32]Moody's said it expected the pension plan to pass Congress in the second half of 2017. [03:11.84]And it said Latin America's largest economy [03:16.04]was preparing to end its deepest recession on record. [03:20.68]Temer said Moody's decision was a recognition of his government's "efforts [03:26.52]to recover credibility in the Brazilian economy." [03:32.00]Moody's last cut Brazil's sovereign debt rating in February 2016, [03:37.88]downgrading the country as then-President Dilma Rousseff [03:42.20]struggled to keep public finances under control. [03:46.68]I'm Phil Dierking. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM