Labour Mobilization, Politics and Globalization in Brazil

263 Pages·2019·1.98 MB·English

by  Marieke Riethof

STUDIES OF THE AMERICAS
LABOUR MOBILIZATION, POLITICS
AND GLOBALIZATION IN BRAZIL
BETWEEN MILITANCY AND MODERATION
Marieke Riethof
Studies of the Americas
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Maxine Molyneux
Institute of the Americas
University College London
London, UK
The Studies of the Americas Series includes country specific, cross-
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Marieke Riethof
Labour Mobilization,
Politics and
Globalization in Brazil
Between Militancy and Moderation
Marieke Riethof
Modern Languages and Cultures/
Latin American Studies
University of Liverpool
Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
Studies of the Americas
ISBN 978-3-319-60308-7 ISBN 978-3-319-60309-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60309-4
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Voor Oskar
P
reface
I began the project that would eventually result in this book, with a research
trip to Chile. As a typically ambitious graduate student I hoped to develop
a comparison between the political role of trade unions in Chile and Brazil.
While in Santiago I had arranged interviews with several trade unionists to
scope out the potential for this project. As I arrived at the union headquar-
ters, however, I discovered that angry miners had occupied the building,
while internal union elections revealed significant splits and disagreements.
As the Chilean unions entered a major political crisis, I decided to switch
my main focus to Brazil, a country still known internationally at the time
for its strong and combative union movement. I discovered soon enough
during my fieldwork that the crucial role of trade unionists in the Brazilian
transition to democracy was only part of the story and that these unions
faced their own political challenges. Nevertheless, my initial experience in
Chile and my many conversations with labour activists in Brazil showed me
that it is moments of crisis and conflict that reveal significant insights into
how and why trade union political strategies evolve.
I was also fascinated when the trade unionists I interviewed connected
their workplace struggles to a wider political agenda, which they considered
a natural extension of their union work. They explained to me that they did
not find these two levels of political activism always easy to reconcile but
that political ideas and aspirations always informed what they did. Their
political activism ranged from opposition to the dictatorship and protests,
to participation in political parties, social movements, and even in govern-
ment, yet I found that the literature on trade unions and labour studies paid
relatively little attention to the political nature of collective labour action.
vii
viii PREFACE
This discrepancy led me to a focus on trade union political strategies, telling
the story of how Brazilian trade unions found space for political participa-
tion during the democratic transition, how they struggled with the impact
of economic crisis, and, paradoxically, how they dealt with the ambiguities
of a government led by their political ally, the Workers’ Party.
The book presented here is the result of many years of study and
research, a journey of discovery and learning. The opportunity to interview
Brazilian trade unionists, to attend union meetings, and to interview mem-
bers of organizations related to the trade union movement was one of the
most rewarding aspects of the research project. I would particularly like to
mention the following people who took the time to talk to me over the
course of the project: Clara Ant, Valmir Barbosa, the executive board of the
Central Única dos Trabalhadores of the Federal District, Maria Silvia
Portella de Castro, Marcelo Sereno, Mônica Valente, Julio Turra, Kjeld
Jakobsen, Francisco Alexandre, Cesário da Silva, Fernando Lopes, Tarcísio
Secoli, Argemiro Pertence Neto, Luiz Vieira, Celso Vianna de Fonseca,
Mozart Schmitt Queiroz, Baltazar, Wilson Almeida, and Uriel Villas Boas.
In addition to the interviews and observations, a significant part of my
analysis focused on published and unpublished trade union documents,
many of which had not been used for research before. The Centro de
Pesquisa Vergueiro in São Paulo is an indispensable source for union pub-
lications and newspaper clippings, although its activities have suffered
from financial restrictions in recent years. Other important sources for
union material were the Centro de Documentação e Memoria Sindical,
the Departamento de Estudos Socio-Econômicos e Políticos, the CUT’s
publication department, the Centro de Documentação of the Sindicato
dos Bancários in São Paulo, the Arquivo Edgard Leuenroth, and the
Fundação Perseu Abramo. The Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos do ABC, and
the Federação Nacional dos Urbanitários in Rio de Janeiro provided me
with ample access to their documentation. Closer to home, the
International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam had a significant
amount of archival material on the PT as well as on trade union action in
the late 1970s and 1980s. I would also like to thank the Interunion
Department for Statistics and Socio-Economic Research (DIEESE, São
Paulo) for its invaluable assistance with statistical information and the
analysis of union documents, particularly Ana Yara Paulino, Antonio
Prado, and Ilmar Ferreira Silva. Through Carlos G.J. Pradez and Jan
Tilma, of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), I received a signifi-
cant amount of information on the CVRD, while José Roberto Fagundes
PREFAC E ix
of the Human Resources Department organized interviews with the trade
union and the investors’ association. Furthermore, Kjeld Jakobsen and
Odilon Faccio of the Observatório Social in Florianópolis invited me to an
extremely useful seminar for academics and trade unionists on labour stan-
dards in multinational corporations.
The generosity and hospitality of many Brazilians, academics, trade
unionists, and others, certainly turned my research trips into an excellent
experience. Iram Rodrigues, Glauco Arbix, and Armando Boito Jr. all
took considerable time to discuss my research and results at several stages.
In addition, I would like to thank the Department of Sociology at the
University of São Paulo for providing me with a position as visiting
researcher during my first stay in Brazil. In addition, I have greatly bene-
fited from conversations with the following people: Giovanni Alves, Nadya
Araújo Guimarães, Francisco Galrão Carneiro, Lúcio Kowarick, Paulo
Martins, Monica Paranhos, Salvador Sandoval, Adalberto Moreira
Cardoso, José Ricardo Ramalho, Marco Aurelio Santana, and Tullo
Vigevani. I would also like to thank Celso Peel for introducing me to the
social impact of privatization in Cubatão, a town economically dominated
by a now privatized industrial sector. A special mention goes to Susana
Camargo Vieira, who introduced me to many people who proved to be
very important for my project. In addition, she provided me with several
opportunities to present my work and discuss my findings with experts.
I would like to thank the following people for their friendship and sup-
port over the years: Antonio Carmona Baez, Barbara Hogenboom,
Christianne Jacobs, Claudia Sanchez Bajo, Courtney Lake, Christa Licher,
Inês Trigo de Sousa, Jessica van der Wusten, Laura van Rossem, Martine
Wolzak, Marianne Franklin, Maria Pia di Matteo, Mireille Codfried,
Damian Raess, Nancy de Randamie, Paul Blokker, René Wiering, Lewis
Taylor, Katinka Weber, Andy Stokes, Colin Irwin, Haekyung Um, Andrew
Redden, Tom Whittaker, Mike Ogden, Charles Forsdick, John and Lynn
Timm as well as many others. I would also like to thank my PhD supervisors
Alex Fernández Jilberto, Marianne Marchand, and Gerd Junne for their
support and advice. In particular, I have very fond memories of the many
coffee breaks with Alex, and his experience has inspired me to focus my
new research project on Chilean refugees and solidarity campaigns.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my fellow PhD students at University
of Amsterdam for their comments on my early work. I also benefitted
greatly from conversations with Mahrukh Doctor, Fiona Macaulay, Alan
Angell, and Leslie Bethell during my time at the Latin American Centre and
x PREFACE
the Centre for Brazilian Studies in Oxford. In recent years, working with
fellow Latin Americanists in an interdisciplinary environment at the
University of Liverpool has enriched my understanding of the region in a
way that would have been difficult otherwise.
I am very grateful to my family for their support and generosity during
all these years. A special mention to my nieces, Eline and Laura, and my
nephew Jack, who always manage to take my mind far away from academic
work. Sadly, my mother, Renée Riethof-Zanoni, saw the beginning but
not the end of this project but I know she would have been very proud of
me. I dedicate this book to our son, Oskar O’Sullivan-Riethof; he could
not stay with us, but he will always be in our hearts. Finally, my husband,
Tadgh O’Sullivan, lived through the many highs and lows of the research
and writing process, across borders and sometimes even across continents.
Not only this book, but also my life would not have been the same with-
out his love and support.
Liverpool, UK Marieke Riethof