This article deals with the emergence of elementary school teachers' labor unions. Two case studies are analyzed, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The aim of this paper is to understand why teachers' unions were created decades after the emergence of working class unions. The creation of labor unions by the social group in question requires objective and subjective conditions. Our hypothesis is that, besides the objective conditions, rising worker's awareness is also essential for the emergence of any type of union organization, particularly teachers' labor unions.
labor unions; teachers' labor unions; associations; objective conditions; subjective conditions