Labour Relations in the Footwear Industry in Franca - SP, 1970 - 1990

This work exposes the labour relations involving the shoe workers, the Franca Shoe Industry Workers' Union (STIC) and the employers in the industry. Our research contextualises this issue only in the city of Franca, located in the interior of São Paulo and popularly known as the footwear capital in the 70s, 80s and 90s. This work analyses the emergence of new technologies in the footwear sector, concomitant with productive restructuring and the loss of union strength, which have aggravated the employability of this sector. Automation has played a decisive role in the reduction of jobs and loss of wages for employees. Due to the loss of union strength and the lack of legalisation, many shoemakers have become subject to informal work, giving up their labour rights under the CLT. These and other factors discussed in this research make up the dark side that oppresses workers in the footwear sector in the city of Franca, which is not publicised by the media, especially TV.