Labor market in the decent work perspective: The case of the metropolitan area of porto alegre

Decent work is a concept developed by the ILO in the late 1990s (OIT, 1999), emerging in a time of great changes in workplaces worldwide, associated with the processes of globalization and productive restructuring, which negatively affected the world of work, increasing unemployment and precarious work conditions. In that context, the ILO has proposed a Decent Work Agenda, encouraging its state members to integrate its employment policies to their economic development strategies, in order to promote opportunities for men and women to obtain productive jobs in conditions of freedom, equity, social protection and respect for rights at work in an international basis.

In view of the requirements of Decent Work Agenda this paper analyzes the evolution of decent work indicators, taking into account the labor market of the Metropolitan Area of Porto Alegre (RMPA) during the period 1993-2010. The research is based on the hypothesis that the recent changes at work led to a new agenda for the discussion of a (re)structuring of the Brazilian labor market. The data come from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment in the Metropolitan Area of Porto Alegre (PED-RMPA), a research that aims to monitor trends in key indicators of metropolitan labor markets throughout the country.

Taking into account that Brazil has still a relatively unstructured labor market, the paper seeks to contribute to a preliminary investigation of decent work deficits in the Region, hoping that the results will shed light on common problems in the Brazilian labor market, providing essential information for policy decision making in that area.

A preliminary analysis indicated an improvement in the labor market conditions in the recent period even though important deficits of decent work persist, demanding actions to increasingly pursue the targets of the Decent Work Agenda, in order to expand opportunities of decent work for all.