ABSTRACT
Employment relations practices in Brazil have suffered from a lack of attention in the field of comparative employment relations. Brazil is an important and prominent member of the Brazil, Russia, India, China countries. Trade unions in Brazil maintained their numbers and poverty and inequality rates have declined. Yet, behind these general trends, the neo-liberal reforms that began in the 1990s, notably privatization and economic openness, have transformed the Brazilian labour movement with adverse consequences for some segments of the workforce. The chapter explores the Brazilian system by outlining the evolution of Brazil’s model of employment relations, looking at its history, actors, labour market trends and outcomes. The modern Brazilian system of employment relations begins with the Iberian conquest and colonization. The end of the military dictatorship and the enactment of the 1988 Constitution ushered in the contemporary era in Brazilian employment relations.
