Workers’ Health as a Human Right: Towards the 5th CNSTTTHIS SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL ‘SAúDE EM DEBATE’ is the result of a collective construction between the Brazilian Association of Public Health (ABRASCO), through its Thematic Group on Workers’ Health (GTSTT), and the Ministry of Health, through the General Coordination of Surveillance in Workers’ Health (CGSAT), in the commitment to contribute to the 5th National Conference on Workers’ Health (5th CNSTT). With the theme ‘Worker’s Health as a Human Right: towards the 5th CNSTT’, this edition aims to provide conference participants with input from the praxis of Workers’ Health (STT), especially on the changes in the world of work in the last decade, based on the theme and issues proposed for the 5th CNSTT, as well as reflections emanating from the 2nd Brazilian Symposium on Worker’s Health (SIMBRASTT), held in November 2022, in Salvador.
ABRASCO plays a crucial role in promoting health and scientific research in Brazil, with its GTSTT bringing together 22 research professors from 10 institutions (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro State University, Federal University of Bahia, Fluminense Federal University, Federal University of São Paulo, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Federal University of Paraíba, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Professor Jorge Amaury Maia Nunes School of Health Sciences of the University of the Federal District), as well as managers of the National Network for Comprehensive Care for Workers’ Health (RENASTT) and representatives of the trade union movement. As an institution that mobilizes science to improve life and working conditions, its challenge is to maintain a permanent dialogue with the various movements of formal and informal workers, as well as the urban and rural populations that have been made vulnerable, and with the instances of state intervention to promote public policies.
Similarly, it is the mission of the CGSAT, in addition to coordinating the implementation of the National Workers’ Health Policy (PNSTT) at national level, through RENASTT, to support the development of actions for prevention, promotion, surveillance, social participation and comprehensive attention to STT, as well as the carrying out and publication of studies and research on STT. For this reason, the link between GTSTT, ABRASCO, CGSAT and the journal ‘Saúde em Debate’ marks a strategic alliance in defense of STT at a time of social and institutional fragmentation that is weakening the field of STT.
The new ways of working induced by digital platformization have brought other forms of illness, many of them resulting from the intensification of precarious work, aggravated by the loss of social security and labor rights in the last decade, while new challenges are imposed on workers as a result of climate change and the financialization of the capitalist world1,2. This scenario poses several challenges for the social, institutional, and academic fields of STT, and the 5th CNSTT can represent an important social response to these issues. Held 11 years after its last edition, the 5th CNSTT marks a strategic moment for the resumption of public debate on human rights related to the world of work. The Conference, convened by the National Health Council (CNS) and promoted by the Ministry of Health, is a highly powerful social process, with the various preparatory stages mobilizing various social actors across the country. A total of 1,170 municipal, 91 regional and 27 state conferences were held. Besides these stages, there were 116 Free STT Conferences were held, which allowed for the mobilization of other social actors, in addition to those participating in Social Control represented in the health councils and their Intersectoral Commissions for Workers’ Health (CISTT), which defined the election of 180 delegates from various social movements with an interest in STT.
The theme of this publication is precisely linked to the three axes of the 5th CNSTT, namely:
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Axis I: The National Workers’ Health Policy.
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Axis II: New Labor Relations and Workers’ Health.
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Axis III: Popular Participation in Workers’ Health for Effective Social Control.
In this edition, we have brought together 25 published works, including 6 original articles, 14 essays, 2 opinion article, 2 experience reports and 1 review, which present reflections and successful experiences in the field of STT.
As part of the theme of the 5th CNSTT, the essay ‘Workers’ Health as Human Rights: time for change!’ proposes a critical reflection on STT as a human right, highlighting the 5th CNSTT as a milestone for change.
The opinion article ‘The Unified Health System and Workers’ Health in Brazil’ revisits some aspects of health policies in Brazil, discussing the current situation and the importance of the Unified Health System (SUS) for the development of the area of Workers’ Health.
Another opinion article on ‘Workers’ health as a human right: The foundations of the Brazilian Sanitary Reform’ reaffirms the STT as a human right and its support in the Federal Constitution of 1988, which constitutionalized the term ‘workers’ health’, valuing work in determining the health-disease process.
In line with the central theme, some topics emerged as emerging concerns, such as the relationship between mental health and work, informal and precarious work, sex work, working hours, and new work configurations. It is observed that vulnerability markers, such as class, gender, race, and disability, were presented cross-cuttingly or as themes in several publications. This also reinforces the cross-cutting nature of STT issues in the field of Public Health. The following articles are examples: ‘Impact of new work relationships on mental health in Paraíba: An analysis of notifications’, ‘Psychological suffering, work intensification and mental exhaustion: Work in Call Centers’, ‘Life beyond work? Notes on long working hours, political emancipation, and workers’ health’, ‘Redefining work in Traditional Peoples and Communities: Ecofeminist inspirations’, ‘Health policies for sex workers: Health, safety, and the sex industry’, ‘Labor relations and the formulation of public policies to promote access and retention of trans individuals in the workforce’, ‘Health, gender, and the invisibility of unpaid domestic work’, ‘Care work on the health agenda: Invisibility, overload, and strain on female workers’, ‘The struggle of workers with disabilities in the face of the capitalist crisis’, ‘Migration and precarious work: Understanding the intersection between social categories’ and ‘Gender as a social determinant of health for motorcycle delivery workers on digital platforms’.
Two articles explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Public Health Emergency: Social vulnerability from the perspective of workers affected by COVID-19’ and ‘Workplace violence amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in primary care in Ceará’.
The implementation of the PNSTT and the management of RENASTT were topics in the articles: ‘Potentialities and Challenges for the Implementation of the National Policy on Workers’ Health (PNSTT) in Primary Health Care’, ‘Evaluation of the Implementation of ‘Qualifica Cerest’: Contributions to Workers’ Health in Porto Alegre (2020-2023)’ and ‘CEREST as a center for coordinating intersectoral actions: An experience with app-based delivery workers’.
Popular participation and/or social control in STT were the themes of the following articles: ‘Contradictions for the representation and performance of Workers’ Health in Health Councils’ and ‘The State Reference Center for Workers’ Health at the 5th Conference: Strengths and limitations’.
Other themes, such as social security and compensation rights and exposure to chemical and mineral products, such as pesticides and asbestos, persist, reaffirming the need to discuss workers’ health as a human right. These issues are addressed in the articles: ‘Workers’ rights in the context of the ‘UNsafe and Uncontrolled’ use of asbestos in Brazil’ and ‘Integrated, participatory, and territorialized health surveillance in contexts of exposure to agrotoxics in Brazil’.
The review ‘Fatigue at work: A historical analysis of labor relations’ provides a history of burnout, an increasingly frequent and topical issue, not only in research and workers’ health services, but also in the media in general.
Regarding the regional diversity of the publications, the states of Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo were covered.
Thus, we hope to provide subsidies and a fruitful debate on experiences, theoretical-methodological issues and public policies aimed at promoting STT.
We wish you a good reading!
References
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1 Antunes R, Praun L. A sociedade dos adoecimentos no trabalho. Serv Soc Soc. 2015;(123):407-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-6628.030
» https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-6628.030 -
2 Krein JD. O desmonte dos direitos, as novas configurações do trabalho e o esvaziamento da ação coletiva: consequências da reforma trabalhista. Tempo Soc. 2018;30(1):77-104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2018.138082
» https://doi.org/10.11606/0103-2070.ts.2018.138082
