Education workers’ labor movement in Alagoas (1985 - 2010)

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991174

This article aims to analyze the history of labor movement in education during the period of neoliberalism rise in Alagoas (Brazil), between the years 1985 and 2010. This historical period was traced by means of official documents, minutes, photographs, scientific conference proceedings, newsletters, flyers, notes, newspapers and semi-structured interviews. Topics such as neoliberalism, trade union movement, career plans, and democratic management, are discussed in the article. It is a work of qualitative nature, which moves between the need to preserve the memory and the assessment of the education professionals’ working conditions, also evaluating effects on quality of the educational system from the context investigated. Methodologically it was resorted to the content analysis to interpretation of research data. Theoretically we have considered the analysis undertaken mainly by Antunes (1982; 1986; 1995), Boito (2005; 2009), Bruno (1990), Giannotti (2007), Vieira (2009), Carvalho (2008) and Meszaros (2002). The final considerations, based on the analysis of the survey data, indicate the influence of the neoliberal model and political and economic conditions on the direction of union movement, specifically on educational branch.

Keywords: Trade union movement, Education, Neoliberalism.