São Paulo, Brazil December 15, 2006
A quick stop through Brazil on the return from Bolivia has proven quite fruitful. Cathleen met with labor lawyers, union leaders, and migrant experts to discuss about portable justice issues and establish alliances for future work. Approximately 300,000 unauthorized workers from Bolivia labor in the garment industry concentrated in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Although Bolivians are freely allowed to enter Brazil, a foreigner is not allowed to work without employment authorization. Without the “cartera de trabalho” or work book issued by the Ministry of Labor one can not be a recognized or formal worker. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the permit, most Bolivians work informally, i.e. in an unauthorized manner. Interestingly, informal work in Brazil is not defined by the industry but by the employer’s documentation of the employment relationship in the employees’ work book. The employer literally records the contract terms and the length of employment directly in the book. Recently, the Brazilian parliament has addressed the exploitation of these workers. They are currently exploring ways to make the work authorization process more accessible in an effort to bring these workers into the formal economy. Although informal workers still have rights under the Brazilian labor system, many do not exercise them out of fear of deportation.