Labour Relations and Strategic Industries in Brazil

This panel will focus on a particular country BRICS, Brazil, and recent confrontation between capital and labour spread among key and global companies in their branches, in a sort of mosaic of cases where strategic politics of production drawing from such companies are able to shed light to class behaviour in a local and national front. The panel looks at recent forms of restructuring of labour relations in strategic industries like mining, the automobile industry, the chemical and petrochemical industry, the metal industry, and logistics and urban transport since the 2008 crises. We would like to discuss possible trends in terms of either outsourcing or recentralization within the lines of global company chains, as well as inward effects for labour force qualification, wages and social security. Questions involved include: are there any differences in the development of labour relations in strategic industries when compared to non-strategic industries? What about the cleavage between small and large companies within strategic industries? How are the forms of integration among them? How do labour movements engage with strategic industries facing such transformations? Are there specific legacies of left-wing and reformist governments and their labour policies for strategic industries? Is it possible to identify a coordinated action of capital and the bourgeoisie regarding the labour force in Brazil? How significant is the presence of Northern companies in those sectors in the BRICS? The case studies presentations will try to suggest some guidelines to further research and reflection.