The Brazilian transports industry includes car, aircraft, boat, and train assemblers, as well as their suppliers. The process of industrial restructuring now underway in Brazil, in conjunction with rising open unemployment, leads us to question whether workers who leave (or are removed from) this economic sector will be able to find alternative jobs commensurate not only with their acquired skill levels but also with their life and social status expectations. Based on an excerpt from the Relação Anual de Informações Sociais and on advanced methods in longitudinal data analysis, the study endeavors to explain the differences in job market mobility experienced by workers who had some formal link with the transports industry in the state of São Paulo between 1989 and 1995. One of the various surprising conclusions is the discovery that in this technologically advanced sector of the economy, the São Paulo state labor market is a structural predator of qualifications and skills - by 1995, it had dismissed 70% of workers employed in 1989.

La restructuration industrielle en cours au Brésil, associée au chômage progressif, permet de s’interroger sur la capacité qu’ont les travailleurs issus (ou renvoyés) de ce secteur économique de retrouver une nouvelle situation autant en accord avec la qualification professionnelle qu’ils ont pu accumuler qu’avec leurs espoirs et leur désir de statut social. À partir d’un texte de la RAIS (Relation Annuelle des Renseignements Sociaux) et à l’aide de méthodologies modernes d’analyse de données longitudinales, cette étude cherche à expliquer les différences de chances sur le marché du travail pour les travailleurs engagés dans les industries de matériel de transports à São Paulo en 1989, et leur trajectoire jusqu’en 1995. Parmi les conclusions inattendues, il convient de remarquer que le marché du travail à São Paulo pour ce secteur économique de pointe chasse structurellement qualifications et aptitudes, puisqu’il a renvoyé sur une période de sept ans 70% des travailleurs embauchés en 1989.

Mediante a análise de um survey realizado em São Paulo os autores examinam a representatividade das centrais sindicais perante os membros de sindicatos filiados. O foco da análise é dado pela questão da capacidade das centrais sindicais de efetivamente atingir suas bases e de converter seus discursos e suas práticas em fatores de constituição de identidades nos planos sindical e político. A resposta inicial é positiva: esse poder existe. A análise mais detida demonstra diferenças significativas entre as centrais sindicais, tanto no que diz respeito às atitudes e práticas políticas dos integrantes de sindicatos filiados quanto no tocante às atitudes e práticas sindicais.

Through the analysis of a survey conducted in São Paulo the authors examine the representativity of the Brazilian trade union confederations towards the members of affiliated unions. The focus of analysis is given by the question of the capability of the union centrals of effectively reaching their rank and file and of turning their discourses and practices into elements for the constitution of identities on the union and political levels. The initial answer is positive: there is such a power. Further analysis reveals significant differences between trade union confederations concerning both political and unionist attitudes and practices.