Unionism and the unemployed: a comparative study of labor federations in Brazil and Argentina (1990-2002)

• Grant number: 12/18699-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Books published in Brazil
• Start date: March 01, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology - Other specific Sociologies
• Principal Investigator: Heloisa Helena Teixeira de Souza Martins
• Grantee: Heloisa Helena Teixeira de Souza Martins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the relationship of the trade union with the unemployed in Brazil and in Argentina during the period from 1990 to 2002. In the understanding of such bond, it were emphasized the actions and representations made by the two most important unions in each country: the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) and the Força Sindical (FS), in the case of Brazil; the Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) and the Central de los Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA), in the Argentine case. The choice of Argentina for the comparison is due to the fact that in this country, in the period studied, the unemployed had a massive and national organization, having become important subject of social protests. The work treats to reflect on the following issues: why in the period considered there weren't in Brazil unemployed movements with a political weight in the set of social protests? What were the conditions that it made possible the emergence of organizations with these characteristics in Argentina? What was the role of the trade union movement in both contexts? The research was composed of 48 semi-structured interviews with Union leaders and organizations of unemployed; collection of information and statistical data; and reading of primary source documents, such as Congress resolutions and plenary sessions, newspapers and magazines. (AU)