Labour Relations and Industrial Performance in Brazil: Greater Sao Paulo, 1945-1960 (St Antony's)

This book is about labour relations and their connections with industrial performance in Greater São Paulo, the most important industrial centre in Brazil and Latin America, between 1945 and 1960. Labour relations are understood as the interaction between industrialists, workers and governments, both in the workplace and in society as a whole. The book presents new and detailed evidence on labour markets, workplace conditions, worforce composition, industrial training and labour productivity in Brazil's manufacturing industry. These data are examined in the dynamic context of strategies pursued by industrialists and workers on the shopfloor and at the level of collective bargaining and general politics. The argument is that labour market conditions and the relations between workers and employers were decisive to explain outcomes in terms of industrial practices and productivity growth, which shaped Brazilian economic history in the post-war years.