Class Conflict and Rising Inequalities
How the Bourgeoisie United to Secure Approval for Labor Reform in Brazil
Abstract
The article analyzes the action of the Brazilian industrial bourgeoisie in support of the labor reform approved in 2017. Such action can be understood as a unified response by different fractions of the industrial bourgeoisie to the intensification of strike activity, to the profit compression of non-financial Brazil-based companies and to the increase in labor costs in the manufacturing industry in the first decades of the twenty-first century, during the Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, or PT) administrations (2003-16). It also argues that this dissatisfaction among the industrial bourgeoisie led to its distancing from the PT administrations, its support for Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment in 2016, and the unified action of different fractions of the bourgeoisie in favor of labor reform at the beginning of Michel Temer’s administration, which resulted in rising inequalities in Brazil.
Submitted: Dec. 14, 2025 | Accepted: Jan. 31, 2026 | Published May 21, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Brazilian Labor Reform • Global Capitalism • Transnational Capitalist Class • Industrial Bourgeoisie • Strikes
Copyright © 2026 Pedro Micussi, Thiago Aguiar. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/INQ/3035-0395/2026/03/008