Employmentweb_low

policies and interventions
employment agencies. This would in all likelihood lead to an
increase in temporary contracts and, in many cases, in precarious
employment. There are also examples of changes that affect the
nature of employment conditions. for example, conditions of
informal employment may be improved by the provision of free and
universal access to health care for informal workers, independent
of the social security system (lund & Marriot, 2005). other
examples include the existence of unemployment insurance with
mechanisms for sustainability, the possibility of real reinsertion
into the labour market linked to such insurance in the short and
medium terms (ilo, 2004), access to compensation for temporary
injury, and parental leave for both parents (ilo, 2004)
case study 71. brazil’s movement of rural landless workers (mSt). - artur sixto, Fernando Ferreira carneiro and Montse
vergara duarte
in brazil, 45 per cent of agricultural land is held by around 1.5 per cent of population, while about half of all landowners
own only about 2 per cent of all arable land (instituto nacional de colonização e reforma agrária, 2007). about 31 million
brazilian people (18.8% of the total population) live in the countryside (instituto brasileiro de geografia e estatística, 2000).
Many of them do so in scattered dwellings built within the limits of large (often huge) properties, where they are allowed to
stay and obtain their own food supplies in exchange for regular or occasional paid labour. these people, known as agregados,
are extremely poor and suffer high rates of psychosocial, educational and health problems caused, in part, by their working
and living conditions.
in southern brazil, during the late 1970s, the mechanisation of agriculture was already leaving thousands of poor
peasants without a living, while arable land was often left unproductive within larger estates. numerous agregados and
smaller farming families could barely survive on their patches of land and began to migrate. this was the background for
the appearance of a farmers’ movement towards the end of 1980 in rio grande do sul, the southernmost state of brazil,
when about 600 landless families gathered to camp in an area then split between three unproductive estates. this gesture
enjoyed external backing from the progressive wing of the catholic church (liberation theology and pastoral land
comission, or comissão pastoral da terra) and some civil rights and political groups. eventually, these families succeeded
in making the government expropriate and distribute some of the land. these families then organised into a movement that
was officially founded in 1984: the Movimento dos trabalhadores rurais sem terra (Mst), or the Movement of rural
landless Workers.
these days, Mst is probably the largest social movement in latin america, with around 1.5 million members. its
major achievement has been to increase the number of new landowners from a few thousand to more than 300,000 in
about 2,000 settlements (see Mst). its main political and social goals are to guarantee human rights and work for all,
and to distribute land and wealth more fairly. Mst is also trying to introduce more environmentally sound agricultural
practices by organising cooperatives and introducing alternatives, sustainable production and exchange methods.
equality is an essential principle of Mst, and agrarian reform is proceeding with social and gender equality and with
worker health concerns in mind. the Mst has proved effective in obtaining land distribution, and also in providing social
support at the community level. as a result, in addition to landless farmers, today the movement also welcomes growing
numbers of migrants from urban areas in what might possibly be a reversal of rural exodus; these people believe that
farming offers better living conditions and the recovery of farmer’s cultural identity.
a key legal element of Mst agrarian reform is the brazilian constitution, which sets forth the basic principle that private
property must serve a social function. private land that is left unproductive can be claimed by landless workers under this
article, as well as under articles 184 and 186, which specifically concern expropriation. occupation is often the first step,
after which the occupants demand the land parcel’s expropriation, followed by owners taking legal action to have the
landless workers evicted. once the legal system is set in motion, quantitative criteria are used to assess land productivity
and whether or not it fulfills a social function, and the dispute is settled.
the Mst plans its activities and elects representatives using participatory democracy, and functions through social
participation in all issues and self-governance at the local community level; however, it exists entirely outside of government
institutions and political parties. all Mst activities are grouped under nine sectors or collectives: production, cooperation
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