Syndicalism and neodevelopmentism: analyzing the strikes between 2003 and 2013 in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the strikes that occurred in Brazil during Workers’ Party Administration: from 2003 to 2013, i.e., the first year of Lula da Silva’s first term to the penultimate year of Dilma Rousseff’s first term. Although focusing on these ten years, we will try to discuss latest data in order to identify which trends are emerging in Brazilian trade unionism. Strikes will be analyzed taking into account the following aspects: frequency and duration of the stoppages, the motivations, the demands and the outcomes of these conflicts. We intend to explain the reasons why these strikes strengthen the thesis of the existence of a neo-developmentalism period in Brazil and reflect on the specific configuration of the class struggle in the period. The main data were collected and systematized by the Inter-union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese).

Unionism; Strikes; Neo-developmentalism; Brazil, Lula and Rousseff administrations; Michel Temer government