Farmworkers, unions and patrões in Southern Agricultural Brazil

Abstract

This paper offers insights about industrial relations in rural Rio Grande do Sul (i.e. the southern-most State of Brazil) and presents a thematic analysis of a set of quali- tative data (mainly interview transcripts with rural salaried workers and union lead- ers from Rio Grande do Sul). Three main interconnected themes emerged from this analysis: the rural working conditions (extremely harsh and unsafe), the rural union organization (i.e. rural unions as health service providers), the specificity of collec- tive bargaining in rural sector. Despite the extremely low wages and precarious working conditions, even if relieved by sindicatos actions, rural work is character- ized by limited mobilization, for two reasons: first, because of the relations between unions and rural workers, and second, the Brazilian institutions of labor market.