Trabalhadores metalúrgicos de Juiz de Fora/MG: uma análise do movimento operário e sindical e do recurso à Justiça do Trabalho (1950-1960)

Abstract

This paper‟s purpose is to deliberate on the labor movement in view of the labor unions and the demands to the Labor Courts (“Justiça do Trabalho”) during the period between 1950 and 1960, by surveying the metalworkers episode in Juiz de Fora/MG. The Brazilian labor legislation in the 30s was established by the government in an attempt to undermine the labor union‟s efforts. Our thesis intends to demonstrate that the goal was never actually accomplished. Our main proposition sustains that the direct means of claims and protest, such as strikes, were not vanquished by the State‟s legal constructs, such as the Labor Court. These constructs were actually incorporated to the union‟s mechanisms and used, along with the direct means, as a dual front of rights claim. For its sources, this papers used the documents from the “Arquivo do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores nas Indústrias Metalúrgicas (STIM)” of Juiz de Fora, and lawsuits issued by the metalworkers at that time, registered in the “Junta de Conciliação e Julgamento” of Juiz de Fora. The survey of Juiz de Fora – an important industrial center for Minas Gerais and for Brazil – may assist to clarify the role of the unionized workers‟ at that period, of their representative as a class, and their relations to the State and its institutions.