Racionalização da mão-de-obra no sistema ferro-portuário e suas implicações socio-económicas: o caso dos CFM-SuI, 1995-2004

Abstract

The problem of rationalisation of the labour force in the railway-port system is a complex problem of national dimension, due to its socio-economic implications and the constraints on the large number of workers involved; the rationalisation of the labour force takes on the proportions of a social problem, with the exclusion of thousands of workers from the labour market. Rationalisation began at CFM-Sul in 1995, with the transfer of some workers to the concessionaires, and gained greater expression from 1998 onwards; this process implied a reduction in the number of workers considered surplus, through early retirement and the termination of employment contracts, encouraged by compensation and socio-professional reinsertion programmes. Despite these incentives, the reduction in the labour mass exerts pressure on workers, generating a climate of insecurity and uncertainty among them. The retained workers still feel threatened in relation to the maintenance of their jobs. There is also an intensification of work and greater demands for responsibilities, new competencies and skills. In relation to the disengaged labour force, they are still frustrated by the difficulties they face and the lack of prospects in the face of unemployment. Recourse to the informal sector is an employment alternative for many of the disengaged.(TRADUÇAO NOSSA)