Labour Relations and the 1990’s Employment Regimes in Canada and Brazil

Abstract

In an environment of global economic competition, corporations and the state have focused their strategies of competitive adjustment on labour flexibility and deregulation and reductions in social expenditures. In many countries, these policies led to the abandonment of full employment and increases in precarious or non-regulated employment. This article analyzes the main political and institutional elements of labour within Canada and Brazil, as well as recent changes in their employment regimes and labour market structures. Key research findings show us that greater labour market flexibility in both countries resulted in a reduction of labour rights that has contributed to the precariousness of work, increasing inequality in Canada, and higher levels of underemployment and poverty in Brazil.