Abstract

The Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex is one of the most significant heavy civil construction projects in Brazil. In 2014, we witnessed a significant strike for improved working conditions, which exposed different perspectives on workers and union representation. This study analyzes the meanings exposed by worker and union action in their implications for the collective defense of health in this strike experience. Qualitative social research employed investigation techniques such as participant observation, documentary survey, and interviews with workers and union leaders. The results produced a brief reconstruction of these struggles from the workers’ perspective, analyzing the strike agendas such as the organization, mobilizations, and tensions between base workers and the union representing the category. Noteworthy was establishing a Base Commission decided by the very workers to act independently from the official union. We observed different responses from the State, companies, and the representative union to stifle the workers’ struggle. Finally, we identified a struggle for improved working conditions and the collective defense of health by workers’ organizations in the workplace.

Key words:
Civil construction; Labor unions; Occupational health; Strikes; Outsourcing

Introduction

In Brazil, a new cycle of large, heavy Civil Construction (CC) works driven by the State in the 2000s emerges, especially in the second term of the Luís Inácio Lula da Silva government (2007-2010) with the launch of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) in 2007. A set of measures fluctuating between liberal orthodoxy and heterodoxy was introduced in the economic policy plan adopted by the Workers’ Party (PT) governments, without threatening the institutionality built to benefit the financial capital accumulation¹1 Paulani LM. A experiência brasileira entre 2003 e 2014: Neodesenvolvimentismo? Cadernos do Desenvolvimento 2017; 12(20):135-155..

Granemann argues that the PAC’s development was narrowed down “(...) to the economic horizon, growth, and acceleration of capitalist accumulation, aligned with the understanding of the bourgeois economy about the functions that should be developed by the State”²2 Granemann S. PAC: a afirmação do parasitismo do capital sobre o trabalho. Rev Políticas Públicas 2007; 11(1):1-19. (p. 9). In this context, the history that began with the launch of the PAC works affected workers’ lives and represents the relationship between State, Capital, and Labor.

From the perspective of the history of the struggle of the heavy CC working-class, several strikes and demonstrations were promoted within PAC works. These initiatives were social movements from the workers’ organization enabling different class actions to express their demands and face adversities in work and health³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.

4 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136.^-55 Lima RCV. Desenvolvimento e Contradições Sociais no Brasil contemporâneo. Um estudo do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro - COMPERJ [dissertação]. Araraquara: Universidade Estadual Paulista; 2015., with notoriety in the mainstream media and the political, legal, and social spheres. Examples are the events that took place in the works of the hydroelectric power plants of Jirau (2011), Santo Antônio (2011), Belo Monte (2011 and 2012), Suape Port Complex (2011), and Abreu e Lima (2012)³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136..

Data from DIEESE⁶6 Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos (DIEESE). Estudos e Pesquisa: Estudo Setorial da Construção 2012. São Paulo: DIEESE; 2013. confirmed the increase in strikes in the sector: in 2010, they corresponded to 3.1% of the total strikes registered in the country; in 2011, this proportion reached 9.4%. In absolute numbers, they went from 14 to 52 occurrences in the same period, an expansion of 270%.

In this setting, the history of CC workers of the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro (COMPERJ) gained notoriety. Thus, like the other PAC projects³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136., located in the municipality of Itaboraí, COMPERJ mobilized tens of thousands of workers, primarily itinerant workers⁷7 Alencar E, Galdo R. Trinta mil operários de vários estados do país 'correm trecho' em busca do tesouro. Jornal O Globo 2014 Abr 6; p. 17., so-called because they travel through different CC works in search of work across the country. When illustrating the general law of capitalist accumulation, Marx characterizes this segment of workers as part of the “capital’s light infantry”⁸8 Marx K. O capital: crítica da economia política. São Paulo: Boitempo; 2013. (p. 602), deployed from one region to another as needed by the companies.

Another characteristic about the capital-labor ratio in the PAC works³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136., such as that of COMPERJ, is the use of outsourcing to hire workers to reduce workforce costs, increase profits, entrench union fragmentation and escalate capitalist exploitation⁹9 Marcelino P, Cavalcante S. Por uma definição de terceirização. Cad CRH 2012; 25(65):331-346..

The COMPERJ CC worker struggle movement was established by open conflicts, several protests, rebellions, strikes, and permanent capital-labor antagonism⁵5 Lima RCV. Desenvolvimento e Contradições Sociais no Brasil contemporâneo. Um estudo do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro - COMPERJ [dissertação]. Araraquara: Universidade Estadual Paulista; 2015. throughout construction. The longest strike by COMPERJ stood out between January and March 2014 in this clashing setting and expressed labor conflicts regarding working conditions, low wages, exhausting working hours, and the category’s union actions⁵5 Lima RCV. Desenvolvimento e Contradições Sociais no Brasil contemporâneo. Um estudo do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro - COMPERJ [dissertação]. Araraquara: Universidade Estadual Paulista; 2015.^,1010 Almeida HP, Souza KR, Pina JA. Trabalho e saúde nas lutas dos operários da construção civil do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup 2018; 43(0):1-8..

COMPERJ’s work had workers from different professional categories and different union representations. As the majority category, CC workers were officially represented by the Union of Workers in the Construction, Assembly, and Industrial Maintenance Plan Industries of São Gonçalo, Itaboraí and Region (SINTICOM), affiliated to the Unified Workers’ Central Office (CUT). The work also had some permanent workers from Petrobras (Work Contractor), represented by the Oil Workers Union of Rio de Janeiro (SINDIPETRO/RJ).

The COMPERJ workers’ strike in 2014 exposed different perspectives for representing workers and union action initiatives in confronting conflicts between capital and labor. Specifically, the workers were actively involved in organizing and conducting the strike and established a Base Commission (BC) separately from the official union, a story that will be briefly described and analyzed here from the workers’ perspective.

Hobsbawn¹¹11 Hobsbawm EJ. Mundos do trabalho: novos estudos sobre história operária. 3ª ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra; 2000. states that the perception and action of workers in the working-class base vis-à-vis their organizations cannot be neglected. The author emphasizes the importance of recording the history of labor movements from the perspective of those who experience them, within and in the outburst of history itself.

In this sense, this study analyzes the different perspectives from the union representation and the BC during the 2014 workers’ strike at COMPERJ. Debating the views launched by union action and workers in this strike will contribute to reflecting on the movement of workers’ struggle for better working and health conditions¹¹11 Hobsbawm EJ. Mundos do trabalho: novos estudos sobre história operária. 3ª ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra; 2000..

The theoretical-methodological framework

This paper assumes the thesis in which social movements and workers’ resistance in concrete situations lead to questioning the contradictions of the capitalist exploitation process and social and human emancipation to generate change and social transformation¹²12 Laurell AC. Saúde e Trabalho: os enfoques teóricos. In: Nunes ED, García JC, organizadores. As Ciências Sociais em Saúde na América Latina. Brasília: OPAS; 1985. p. 255-76.. Furthermore, the collective intelligence of workers’ struggles is admitted, as ensured by the historical materialism’s tradition theories, given that mass action is educational and produces critical knowledge about social reality, enhancing class solidarity and political awareness of workers as subjects of historical changes¹³13 Luxemburgo R. Greve de massa, partido e sindicato. Coimbra: Centelha; 1974.^,1414 Gramsci A. Cadernos do cárcere. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira; 2004..

The strike movement is understood as workers’ space of collective experience, in which the struggle for rights is developed in opposition to bosses and governments¹⁵15 Lênin VI. Sobre as greves. In: Lênin VI, organizador. Sobre os sindicatos. Rio de Janeiro: Vitória; 1961. p. 39-47.. The strike can be considered one way of open resistance and workers’ questioning in the struggle for better working and health conditions³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136..

This study is based on the theoretical-methodological framework of Occupational Health (OH), highlighting the contributions of Latin American social medicine¹²12 Laurell AC. Saúde e Trabalho: os enfoques teóricos. In: Nunes ED, García JC, organizadores. As Ciências Sociais em Saúde na América Latina. Brasília: OPAS; 1985. p. 255-76. and Italian workers’ studies¹⁶16 Oddone I, Marri G, Gloria S, Briante G, Chiattella M, Re A. Ambiente de trabalho: a luta dos trabalhadores pela saúde. São Paulo: Editora Hucitec; 1986.. Such perspectives recognize that workers’ health is strongly related to resistance, mobilization, and collective organization of workers.

The field of study was carried out in the COMPERJ territory, and data was collected from May 2014 to September 2015. The methodological procedures used were participant observation, individual interviews with key informants, and a documentary survey. At first, entry into the field included participation in public hearings, category assemblies, and, later, visits to unions. This moment mainly aimed to enter reality, live together, strengthen ties within that social context¹⁷17 Brandão CR. Reflexões sobre como fazer trabalho de campo. Soc Cult 2007; 10(1):11-27., and identify potential “key informants”¹⁸18 Bisol CA. Estratégias de pesquisa em contextos de diversidade cultural: entrevistas de listagem livre, entrevistas com informantes-chave e grupos focais. Estud Psicol 2012; 29:719-726.. The second stage of the research involved conducting interviews with key informants. Ten interviews were conducted altogether, five with COMPERJ CC workers, participants of the strike movement, one with SINTICOM, and four with SINDIPETRO/RJ directors.

The Collective Labor Conventions (2012-2016), materials from the COMPERJ strike movement, union bulletins, and minutes of public hearings held by the Labor Prosecution Office (MPT) were used as the basis for analyzing the study.

Regarding the construction of the body of data analysis, according to Brandão¹⁹19 Brandão CR. A pergunta a várias mãos: a experiência da pesquisa no trabalho do educador. São Paulo: Cortez; 2003., the most substantial and most powerfully descriptive passages of the interviews were used, called “striking statements” as they repeat themselves, insist on the same line of thought, and stand out due to their critical content. These choices are aligned with the study’s theme and objectives. While identifying different perceptions between workers and unionists, such excerpts emphasize their respective social and symbolic experiences, allowing the research data to become living texts from the perspective of critical analysis, dialogue with literature, and the OH precepts.

The Research Ethics Committee of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health approved this study.

Results and discussion

Workers’ strike and trade union action: labor conflicts in workers’ struggles at the construction site

On January 23, 2014, the workers started the longest strike at COMPERJ, which ended on March 27, lasting 64 days. The trigger was mainly poor health and working conditions, such as the lack of access to water and food hygiene, and it was unleashed during the 2014-2015 collective agreement negotiation.

It is noteworthy that other studies point to very similar problems as motivators of workers’ strikes within significant CC works during the military dictatorship²⁰20 Valladares LP. Quebra-Quebras na construção civil: o caso dos operários do metro do Rio de Janeiro. Dados 1981; 24(1):61-84. and in recent years³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136.. Chart 1 shows the main points of the 2014 union agenda, as established in previous collective agreements and the 2014-2015 agreement signed with the end of the COMPERJ workers’ strike. The weight and continuity of labor conflicts are observed, especially around field days off, in itinere hours, classification of helpers who perform professional activities, and points related to salary increases, overtime, and PLR bonuses.

In itinere hours and field days off were included in the collective agreements of 2011 and 2012, respectively, after the strikes carried out in these years. Workers defend the right to field days off every sixty days of work, extend the days off, and companies’ payment of travel expenses. However, the reports revealed that it was common to use artifices to cancel field days off to extend working time, in which the days are paid as overtime or not¹⁰10 Almeida HP, Souza KR, Pina JA. Trabalho e saúde nas lutas dos operários da construção civil do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup 2018; 43(0):1-8..

The monetary compensation of part of the worker’s commuting time (round trip) to the construction site marks how in itinere hours were implemented in COMPERJ: companies pay thirty minutes per day worked instead of integrating this time into the working hours, which would entail its reduction. Since then, the union agenda has kept this understanding, expanding the time to be paid as in itinere hours, since the time effectively spent by workers in commuting is greater¹⁰10 Almeida HP, Souza KR, Pina JA. Trabalho e saúde nas lutas dos operários da construção civil do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup 2018; 43(0):1-8..

According to the respondents, calling for overtime was a managerial requirement of the companies, which occurred during the week and, commonly, on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. All the more so for itinerant workers, generally employed because of their connection to a contracting network in which these requirements condition their continuity in future contracting in works throughout the country.

Payment of the PLR (2013-2014) arrears was met in the collective agreement signed at the end of the 2014 strike. The PLR conditioned to individual and collective goals was also renewed (Table 1), as established by the companies in COMPERJ. As different workers report, the goals determine the work’s pace: “Much rush to do the work to reach the goal.” These are work management methods marked by pressure, escalation, and disciplinary control: the application of penalties (warnings) entails a reduction in the PLR bonus, and the embarrassment for the worker not to leave work, even for health reasons, by controlling absenteeism and setting “zero work accidents with lost time” for the “safety, environment, and health”¹⁰10 Almeida HP, Souza KR, Pina JA. Trabalho e saúde nas lutas dos operários da construção civil do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup 2018; 43(0):1-8. goal.

While the statements question the pressure to increase the pace, this questioning is diffuse. There is a lack of a critical union perspective of the PLR as a structured management practice for disciplinary control and step-up of workers’ labor. This finding is not exclusive to SINTICOM and is found in the unionism of factory workers and the automobile industry in Brazil²¹21 Pina JA, Stotz EN, Jackson Filho JM. Trabalhador "compatível", fratura exposta no processo de produção da indústria automobilística: intensificação do trabalho e saúde em questão. Cad Saude Publica 2018; 34(7):1-13. and the U.S.²²22 Yeats M. COVID-19, Economic Depression, and the Black Lives Matter Protests. Will the Triple Crisis Bring a Working-Class Revolt in the United States?. Monthly Review [periódico na Internet]. 2020 Set [cited 2020 Nov 25]; 72(4). Available from: https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/covid-19-economic-depression-and-the-black-lives-matter-protests/
https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/cov... .

The workers’ questioning against the demands for extra work time resulted in achievements such as in itinere hours and field days off. The 2014 strike expressed the continuity of these conflicts and the ambiguous union agenda. In response, companies continually try to shift this questioning to negotiating the value of remuneration for overtime work, facilitated by keeping low wages at construction sites with the containment of raises or the use of paid professionals as helpers. This shift is also favored when the trade union agenda remains ambiguous or limited to monetary compensation for worker exhaustion by prolonging and intensifying working hours, producing work overload and distinct harmful effects on health, as shown by some studies in the international literature on CC workers’ health²³23 Holden S, Sunindijo RY. Technology, Long Work Hours, and Stress Worsen Work-life Balance in the Construction Industry. Intern Journal Integrated Engineering. 2018; 10(2):13-18.^,2424 Kotera Y, Green P, Sheffield D. Work-life balance of UK construction workers: relationship with mental health. Construction Management and Economics 2020; 38(3):291-303..

The claim for professional classification occurs because companies resort to function diversion as a strategy of depreciating and disqualifying the workers’ work, remunerating them with a helper salary. It is management practice to reduce labor costs as one of the objectives of outsourcing⁹9 Marcelino P, Cavalcante S. Por uma definição de terceirização. Cad CRH 2012; 25(65):331-346., common to Petrobras outsourcing²⁵25 Araújo AJS. Paradoxos da modernização: terceirização e segurança dos trabalhadores em uma refinaria de petróleo [tese]. Rio de Janeiro: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; 2001.. With outsourcing, multiple companies operate on COMPERJ’s construction sites, providing contractual differences concerning salaries, health, and working conditions. Thus, “cascade outsourcing”⁸8 Marx K. O capital: crítica da economia política. São Paulo: Boitempo; 2013., which is configured as successive transfers of contracts and subcontracts between companies, is emphasized in this setting.

As in other PAC workers struggles³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136., union action did not move towards a direct questioning of outsourcing, although there were confrontations to its different effects, which are dispersed with the unstable work situations and workers’ health conditions¹⁰10 Almeida HP, Souza KR, Pina JA. Trabalho e saúde nas lutas dos operários da construção civil do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro. Rev Bras Saúde Ocup 2018; 43(0):1-8..

According to the respondents, “small uprisings” were common at construction sites due to work and health conditions and late payments. Attention is drawn to the forms of struggles unleashed by the workers, in the words of one worker: “We had constant small riots there”, often transformed into strikes.

The frequency and form taken by the workers’ resistance indicate that the companies did not achieve effective improvements to the demanded conditions. The actions occurred through spontaneous movements at the construction sites, such as “uprisings”, “outbursts”, or “rebellions”, expressing the lack of representativeness of the official union in the workplace.

The form of these struggles subverted the organization and business management, confronting disciplinary norms and rules, such as restricting workers’ movement between the construction sites. The uprisings and rebellions took place during the working day, separately from the official union, without following the legislation’s standardization, for example, which calls for a 48-hour prior notice to exercise the “right to strike”. These struggles elude union legalism’s attempt to prescribe the initiative and moderate workers’ action within predictable patterns for companies. Therefore, they differ from the so-called “passive adherence strikes”, called from outside to inside the company by the official union, generally without the active participation of base workers in their organization and implementation²⁶26 Boito Jr. A. Reforma e Persistência da Estrutura Sindical. In: Boito Jr. A, organizador. O Sindicalismo Brasileiro nos anos 80. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra; 1991. p. 43-91..

The active participation of workers in organizing and conducting the 2014 strike is one of its characteristics. Besides its outbreak in the absence of SINTICOM, the strike’s initial episodes expanded the gap between base workers and the union, especially after the union leadership defended the proposal presented by the companies to sign a collective agreement with deductions for idle days in an assembly with the workers:

The following day, February 6, at another meeting, called without the union’s consent, the workers decided to pursue the strike, included the non-deduction claim for idle days and elected a Base Commission (BC) composed of eleven workers to negotiate with the companies²⁷27 Ministério Público do Trabalho. Procuradoria Regional do Trabalho (PRT) - 1° Região de Niterói; 2014, 11 fev.. This movement was supported by union entities such as SINDIPETRO-RJ and the National Struggle Coordination (CSP-CONLUTAS). The workers organized themselves in the BC autonomously and separately from SINTICOM. However, its participation in the negotiations was refused by the companies and SINTICOM. In this context, the 2014 strike exposed the conflict for the representation of workers and different perspectives for union action in response to the workers’ struggle.

Response to the workers’ struggle and different perspectives for union action: workers’ health issues

Companies adopted surveillance, repression, and dismissal practices to contain or dismantle the strike movement. One of them was the use of images through cameras installed at construction sites and entrances or through cell phones of forepersons or supervisors to identify strike leaders and activists:

In the language of CC workers, “cans” meant mass layoffs. The term refers to powdered milk cans that are discarded when they are no longer useful. The report lists some common actions taken by companies after the strike, such as dismissals of workers, persecution of leaders, or workers most active in the strike. Another reported practice is including the names of these fired workers on a “black list”:

According to the interviews, the list is passed on to other outsourced companies to mark these workers. An action that extends in time and space, as contractors activate their networks of contracted companies in different country regions to prevent the admission of these workers. Corporate repression actions such as monitoring, dismissing, and marking strike leaders are found in the history of workers’ struggle²⁸28 Edelman B. A Legalização da Classe Operária. São Paulo: Boitempo; 2016., CC works during the military dictatorship²⁰20 Valladares LP. Quebra-Quebras na construção civil: o caso dos operários do metro do Rio de Janeiro. Dados 1981; 24(1):61-84., previous COMPERJ strikes⁵5 Lima RCV. Desenvolvimento e Contradições Sociais no Brasil contemporâneo. Um estudo do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro - COMPERJ [dissertação]. Araraquara: Universidade Estadual Paulista; 2015., other PAC works³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136., and among outsourced workers in Petrobras refineries²⁵25 Araújo AJS. Paradoxos da modernização: terceirização e segurança dos trabalhadores em uma refinaria de petróleo [tese]. Rio de Janeiro: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz; 2001..

The state’s response to the strike included repressive apparatus through the military police and the Labor Justice. The police engaged in ostensible action in strike activities, in assemblies, and acts at construction sites and the highway (“Trevo da reta”) at the entrance of COMPERJ, or even in the participation of workers in public hearings promoted by the MPT and the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro. On February 27, 2014, the Regional Labor Court considered the strike abusive through an injunction, determining the immediate return to work under penalty of a daily fine of ten thousand reais for SINTICOM²⁹29 Ordoñez R. Justiça considera ilegal greve dos trabalhadores do Comperj. Jornal O Globo 2014 Fev 27..

The strike continued despite these measures, also adopted in other strike movements, in the works of COMPERJ⁵5 Lima RCV. Desenvolvimento e Contradições Sociais no Brasil contemporâneo. Um estudo do Complexo Petroquímico do Rio de Janeiro - COMPERJ [dissertação]. Araraquara: Universidade Estadual Paulista; 2015. and PAC³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136.. This decision was taken in workers’ assemblies, separately from the official union. The BC engaged through acts and mobilizations at the construction site to sustain the workers’ strike. One of the BC’s and supporting union entities’ options was to forward the workers’ demands to the MPT to obtain the Commission’s recognition for the representation of workers in negotiations with the companies.

State action to reconcile the labor conflict of COMPERJ was undertaken by MPT²⁷27 Ministério Público do Trabalho. Procuradoria Regional do Trabalho (PRT) - 1° Região de Niterói; 2014, 11 fev. resorting to public hearings, which was unsuccessful, as companies refused to participate in such hearings. BC’s involvement in the negotiations, already rejected by the companies, was publicly refused by SINTICOM. The directors did not recognize the legitimacy of the BC of COMPERJ workers. Instead, they upheld the legal prerogative given to SINTICOM and another workers’ commission, namely, the Union Representativeness Commission (CRS) included in the so-called National Commitment to Improve Working Conditions in the Civil Construction Industry (CNIC)³⁰30 Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos (DIEESE). Mesa Nacional da Construção O diálogo social tripartite - rumo a condições de trabalho decentes no setor da construção. São Paulo: DIEESE; 2013., created in 2012. The Commitment was a federal initiative through the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic in promoting the Tripartite Dialogue and Negotiation Table between representatives of the federal government, large contractors, and trade union offices recognized by Law 11.648/08³¹31 Brasil. Lei no 11.648 de 31 de março de 2008. Dispõe sobre o reconhecimento formal das centrais sindicais para os fins que especifica. Diário Oficial da União 2008, 31 mar., in response to the workers’ strikes that occurred in 2011 in the PAC³⁰30 Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos (DIEESE). Mesa Nacional da Construção O diálogo social tripartite - rumo a condições de trabalho decentes no setor da construção. São Paulo: DIEESE; 2013. works.

The Commitment gained the status of “public policy” for the heavy CC sector to ensure the companies’ productivity and contain the conflicts (strikes) that paralyzed significant works. According to the then CUT president, the Commitment “[...] establishes national rules and standards for wages and working conditions, health and safety of construction workers. [...] the number of strikes tends to decrease as the Commitment is applied on a day-to-day basis [...]³²32 Santos A. Um compromisso para construir o Brasil. Revista Carta Maior [revista na internet]; 2012 [acessado 2016 jan 21]. Disponível em: http://cartamaior.com.br/?/Opiniao/Um-compromisso-para-construir-o-Brasil/26578
http://cartamaior.com.br/?/Opiniao/Um-co... .

The continuity of conflicts and strikes of CC workers³3 Campos C. Conflitos trabalhistas nas obras do PAC :o caso das Usinas Hidrelétricas de Jirau, Santo Antônio e Belo Monte [dissertação]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2016.^,44 Véras R. Brasil em obras, peões em luta, sindicatos surpreendidos. Rev Crit Cienc Sociais 2014; 103:111-136., like that of COMPERJ analyzed in this study, questioned the CNIC as a public policy capable of promoting improvements in workers’ working and health conditions. Noteworthy is a policy that disregarded the knowledge produced by the OH³³33 Lacaz FAC. Saúde do trabalhador: um estudo sobre as formações discursivas da academia dos serviços e do movimento sindical [tese]. Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 1996.. Institutional union action is highlighted with a clear commitment to political moderation and guarantee of the pact for economic growth with the State and employers, a specific action of unionism in partnership with capital³⁴34 Galvão A. A contribuição do debate sobre a revitalização sindical para a análise do sindicalismo brasileiro. Rev Crítica Marxista 2014;(38):p. 103-117. also found in part of unionism in the U.S.²²22 Yeats M. COVID-19, Economic Depression, and the Black Lives Matter Protests. Will the Triple Crisis Bring a Working-Class Revolt in the United States?. Monthly Review [periódico na Internet]. 2020 Set [cited 2020 Nov 25]; 72(4). Available from: https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/covid-19-economic-depression-and-the-black-lives-matter-protests/
https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/cov... in recent decades.

This context sees the emergence of the CRS, in collaboration with companies on construction sites, oriented to build a healthy work environment conducive to increased productivity³⁰30 Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos (DIEESE). Mesa Nacional da Construção O diálogo social tripartite - rumo a condições de trabalho decentes no setor da construção. São Paulo: DIEESE; 2013.. COMPERJ workers’ reports illustrate the role of CRS control and the disorganized workers’ struggles, endorsed by the companies and SINTICOM:

This CRS union perspective is inspired by the current factory commissions of the ABC-SP metallurgists, oriented by the search to enable the companies’ productivity gains with benefits in the employment contracts or make productivity and health compatible. The defense of this union policy hides the acceptance of the capital’s escalated exploitation of the labor force, an expression of deep-seated liberal (bourgeois) ideology in the union movement³⁵35 Stotz EN, Pina JA. Experiência operária e ciência na luta pela saúde e a emancipação social. Rev Bras Saude Ocup 2017; 42(e12):1-11.. The bourgeois ideology underlies the CRS union perspective as an organization invested and recognized by the State to represent and participate in negotiations on behalf of workers. The State grants and guarantees the SINTICOM and CRS monopoly of representation, and not the very workers³⁶36 Boito Jr. A. O sindicalismo de estado no Brasil: uma análise crítica da estrutura sindical. Campinas: Hucitec/Unicamp; 1991..

The State also determines union representation by professional category, another foundation of union ties to the State³⁶36 Boito Jr. A. O sindicalismo de estado no Brasil: uma análise crítica da estrutura sindical. Campinas: Hucitec/Unicamp; 1991. that fragments workers, an expanded fragmentation with outsourcing, even more so with Law 13.429/2017 and the labor reform (13.467/2017). We identified a critical perspective on the division of the union organization by professional category among BC’s backers.

The strike of the COMPERJ workers attempted to question the characteristics of the Brazilian union structure, something which, however, remains unfinished. The BC emerged in the direct struggle and by decision of the workers themselves, with the active participation of workers in its organization, contrasting with the passive official union’s action. However, the movement’s strength was insufficient to impose BC’s direct negotiation on companies, not even with BC’s own effort to seek recognition from the MPT as the workers’ representative. The companies’ refusal to negotiate with BC represents the policy of denying the workers’ organization in the workplace and the support for the State union structure expressed by recognizing the official union.

Final considerations

This study briefly reconstructed the COMPERJ workers’ social struggles from the workers’ perspective and highlighted the BC’s important role in reviving the workers’ leadership. Such collective assumption can be interpreted as disobedience and workers questioning the old red tape union model structures and the companies’ apparatus. The reaction of the base workers can be seen as one of the effects of the policy of reconciling classes and partnership with capital, undertaken by the PT government and assumed by the directors of the CUT unions and the main Union Offices in the country³⁴34 Galvão A. A contribuição do debate sobre a revitalização sindical para a análise do sindicalismo brasileiro. Rev Crítica Marxista 2014;(38):p. 103-117..

While some demands were met in the labor legislation, the workers’ struggle ensured important achievements such as field days off. The Labor Reform approved in 2017 extinguished and reduced workers’ rights³⁸38 Rodrigues IJ. As comissões de empresa e o movimento sindical. In: Boito Jr. A,organizador. O Sindicalismo Brasileiro nos anos 80. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra; 1991. p. 137-170., bringing them more significant adversity, but does not preclude their achievement.

At COMPERJ, in response to the workers’ strike, the companies produced a series of actions to weaken, dismantle and dissolve the movement with the dismissal of BC leaders and the production of “black lists” to identify workers’ leaders in future hiring. As Rodrigues³⁹ points out, many commissions emerged and were set up to organize and negotiate the strike in the historical experience of workers’ organization in the workplace in Brazil, only to disappear either due to the dismissal of workers or lack of support from the official union.

Despite the mobilizations, the strength of the strike movement was not enough to impose direct negotiation by BC on companies. The BC and its supporters directed efforts towards the MPT to obtain its recognition as workers’ representatives in the negotiations, an action still within the framework of the State apparatus and not for the achievement of the workers themselves.

This paper emphasizes the importance of OH studies on the implications of the State’s union structure in the organization and mobilization of workers as a class in the struggle for health. Noteworthy were the Labor Reform measures, which changed the union organization system, causing more significant challenges for this class³⁸38 Rodrigues IJ. As comissões de empresa e o movimento sindical. In: Boito Jr. A,organizador. O Sindicalismo Brasileiro nos anos 80. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra; 1991. p. 137-170.. In this setting, unions and worker-based parties must be rebuilt, structuring themselves from a working-class perspective²²22 Yeats M. COVID-19, Economic Depression, and the Black Lives Matter Protests. Will the Triple Crisis Bring a Working-Class Revolt in the United States?. Monthly Review [periódico na Internet]. 2020 Set [cited 2020 Nov 25]; 72(4). Available from: https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/covid-19-economic-depression-and-the-black-lives-matter-protests/
https://monthlyreview.org/2020/09/01/cov... , unifying the employed and unemployed.

Finally, one must always learn with the intelligence of workers’ movements, as all mass action is educational and motivates more people to fight¹³13 Luxemburgo R. Greve de massa, partido e sindicato. Coimbra: Centelha; 1974.. However, another page is written in workers’ history in which workers synchronously fight and defend health, seeking to improve working conditions, possibilities for social transformation, opposing the domination and control of the capital in a setting of union hegemony contention.

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