CHANGING LABOUR RELATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA

The position of waged labour and trade unions in Latin America has been affected by three major trends since 1980, namely liberalization of the market, democratization of the state, and informalization of poverty. The late eighties also witnessed the effects of crisis and adjustment which have posed a set of dilemmas for the trade union movement. These dilemmas have their origins in the profound changes in the composition of the labour force. In Colombia and Peru the first experiments in uneasy integrations of the unions of informal workers have only started recently, including the "madres comunitarias" in Bogota and Medellin, and the street sellers in Lima. The present study, based on a policy evaluation of the development efforts of FNV, ICFTV, and ORIT, focuses on the possibilities of new policy issues, on strategic alliances with new actors in Latin America's economy and society, and on the definition of the position of organized labour. Should it continue to defend the vested interests of a seemingly shrinking labour aristocracy, or should it act as the spokesman of the masses of the poor, the underprivileged and the marginalized?