Dilemmas of syndicalism in the productive restructuring context

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the process of productive restructuring, which took place in Votorantim Metais in the 1990’s decade, as well as the changes in the trade union action in this context. The purpose is to understand the strategies and programs that have been implemented by the company, through the workers’ experience while facing this process – in terms of adhesion and resistance, focusing mainly on the impact on the local trade union organization. In broader terms, we suggest that the issues concerning productive restructuring process might be more thoroughly understood though the lenses of the perception and lived experience of the workers, taking the analysis one step beyond the understanding of capitalism’s broader processes.