Crises e desafios do sindicalismo brasileiro ante ataques neoliberais

Abstract

The conception of crisis in brazilian unionism began to be diffused with greater intensity from the 1990s, as a result of neoliberal governments under way, at the time. From the rescue of historical visions of Brazilian professional associations, in the light of historical-dialectical materialism, we have achieved the constitution of these entities and the political and economic influences suffered in this trajectory. It was verified that in the course of trade union history, several measures were adopted aiming to place on the working class the responsibility for the resumption of the economic growth of the country. We emphasize the regimes adept of this thought, being the period of the military dictatorship, and the two neoliberal waves: the first, initiated in the Collor government and intensified in FHC governments, and the second, after the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff, in 2016. We have also identified that traditionally the legislated model of labor relations has been adopted, which contributed to inflexibility of union activity in times of social recession and greater demand for the Judiciary. It was in the 1980s that unionism reached the apex of its representativeness, and, on the other hand, from 1990 began its decline. We have analyzed the factors that contributed to the rise and weakening of the unions. We find that the transformations in the Brazilian economy and politics, which took place in the 1990s, influenced the unions behavior, however, were not able to remove them from the political and social scene of the country. Currently, a new neoliberal political project is underway, with attack on the Constitution of the Republic, fundamental rights and guarantees and international human rights standards, with emphasis on violations of social labor rights. The research sought to verify if the Brazilian unions had the margin of maneuver to resist the neoliberal pressures of government, maintaining its regular functioning and basic representation in the struggles in defense of workers' rights. To do so, we conducted a case study of the Union of Workers at the Federal University of Espírito Santo, which led us to the conclusion that there are alternatives for adopting an active policy of valuing work in society, and that unions have a fundamental role in achieving of this idea.