Apropriação do tempo das mulheres: jornada e salário nas contratualidades espoliativas

Abstract

The contractual arrangements that drive the increase in employers’ control and appropriation of working time constitute the central object of this dissertation. In this regard, the study understands the flexibilization and intensification of working hours as essential strategies for capital in the context of structural crisis, since they enhance the extraction of surplus value. The consequent deepening of workers’ exploitation and expropriation has severely impacted the conditions of reproduction and organization of everyday life for the working class, which particularly affects women. In light of this, we seek to identify how the struggle over time is decisive for the preservation and expansion of gender, race, gender identity, and sexual orientation-based oppressions experienced by women workers, drawing on feminist theories critical of capitalism that highlight the interrelation between social reproduction and the marginalization and precarization of women in labor relations. From this perspective, we examine the measures of flexibilization of working hours and wages applied to employment contracts, understood as spoliative contractualities, through a study of the telemarketing sector in the state of Bahia, which is marked by the significant participation of women, Black, and LGBTI+ workers, as well as by its labor management practices and precarious working conditions. Among the alternative work arrangements and wage erosions observed in the sector, we investigate: telework; time-bank systems; the 5x2 schedule with workdays shorter or longer than six hours; suppression of breaks and/or time at the employer’s disposal before “login”; payment of wages below the legal minimum; delays in payment of wages and/or benefits; and termination of employment contracts without payment or with installment of severance entitlements. This is a concrete study that combines different sources, techniques, and procedures to map and interpret these practices as ongoing processes, acknowledging their dynamics and emerging trends. Accordingly, it involves content analysis of interviews with twelve telemarketing workers and of collective agreements signed by the representative trade union, as well as participant observation, systematization of official statistics, and evaluation of other relevant materials collected.