(Reuters) – Union demonstrations snarled traffic in several Brazilian cities on Thursday morning as part of a one-day strike aimed at seizing the momentum of sweeping protests that shook Latin America’s largest economy last month.

Bus drivers, metalworkers, stevedores and bank tellers were among the unionized workers who took to the streets in at least dozen of Brazil’s biggest cities as organized labor sought to push workers’ rights to the forefront of the national debate.

The disruptions, which began during the early morning commute, were limited compared to the mass protests that swept Brazil in June, culminating in its largest demonstrations in two decades and spurring President Dilma Rousseff to pledge reforms.

Union groups played a marginal role in those protests, which were sparked by outrage over higher bus fares and led to demands for better public services, an end to political corruption and more investment in healthcare and education.

Organized labor is now trying to assert leadership and provide direction for what has been a largely leaderless mass protest movement. Unions are asking for shorter work weeks and more generous pensions among other demands.

Leaders of Brazil’s biggest umbrella union, known as CUT, which provides key support for Rousseff’s leftist Workers’ Party, aimed to channel popular discontent while allaying skepticism that they were late to the movement.

“We’re not late, we’ve always been here. We’re here to demand that Dilma follows through on her promises,” said Adriana Magalhães, a bank employee and CUT organizer in Sao Paulo.

Demonstrators briefly blocked dozens of major roads around the country, setting tires ablaze on a freeway outside Rio de Janeiro and marching over an iconic suspension bridge in Sao Paulo’s financial district.

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