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RURAL WORKERS’ UNIONISM AS AN OBJECT OF DISPUTE AND AS AN AGENT FOR THE CREATION OF UNION FEDERATIONS IN BRAZIL (2003-2017)

During the Worker’s Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT) governments the number of union federations grew in Brazil, establishing a fierce competition for representation between them. This article analyzes how this competition manifested in the labor movement by the case study of rural workers’ unionism, emphasizing the changes that occurred in the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Rurais Agricultores e Agricultoras Familiares (Contag), the main union entity in this segment. The study comprised interviews with union leaders and advisors, analysis of documents and union press and observation of events from selected entities. We conclude that the creation of new federations and the possibility of obtaining their legal recognition in the 2000s promoted alliances and ruptures in rural workers’ unionism, leading to the formation of new rural entities and fed back into the process of creating union federations.

Union Federations; Rural Unionism; Rural Workers; Rural Social Movements; PT Governments


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