Military dictatorship and workers’ resistance: The workers’ movement from the military coup to democratic transition

Abstract

The 1950s are a period of great significance for Brazilian workers. The trade union movement, headed by an alliance of communist and labor militants, made major organizational and mobilization progress that led to significant workers’ participation in society and national political life. This article analyzes the trajectory of the Brazilian labor movement during the period, placing emphasis on factors that are internal to the life of the movement. Among the latter, we consider constituting forces and internal disputes, political and ideological orientation and their influence on organization and practice, as well as the forms of struggle that were developed. Furthermore, external conditioning factors, such as the political and economic conjuncture that serve as a scenario for the union actor are also taken into account, considered insofar as they both alter and are altered by the latter. Keywords: workers’ movement, Brazilian Communist Party, military dictatorship, new working class, strike movement.