Brazilianization of labor in the United Kingdom? indicators of working conditions in recent decades

• Grant number: 15/02096-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: April 15, 2015
• End date: December 14, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Jose Dari Krein
• Grantee: Vitor Araújo Filgueiras
• Supervisor: Alfredo Saad-Filho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Economia (IE). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of London, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/04548-3 - Indicators of labor regulation in Brazil, BP.PD

Abstract

The object of the proposed project is the working conditions in the United Kingdom (UK) in recent years, with respect to three of its central aspects: the form of hiring, the physical integrity and the dignity of employees. The main objectives of the research are: 1) to analyze the dynamics of working conditions in the UK, from the 2000s to the present; 2) Compare the situation of wage labour in the UK with the scenario investigated in Brazil over the same period. This will be done by collecting and constructing indicators concerning to forms of contracting, accidents at work and slave-like labour (and the possible relationship between them) for the whole salaried population in the UK, based on various official sources and available literature. In addition, these indicators will be replayed and focused on British construction sector, deepening the comparison to Brazilian labour scenario. At this stage of investigation, shall be selected and analyzed the occupational conditions of a sample of building sites in London. From the general objectives of the research, we will try to reflect on a possible process of "brazilianization" of salaried labour in England, and analyze how neoliberal policies and productive restructuring may have affected the occupational conditions in the UK. The comparison will provide parameters for analyzing the dimension of precarisation of work in Brazil. Moreover, in assessing the UK scenario, it may help to think as regulatory options could pass in Brazil, especially considering that accidents at work, slave-like labour and outsourcing (subcontracting) are three themes of imminent and serious deliberations on regulation of labour in that country. (AU)