The precariousness of work in Brazil has been reported by the flexibility productive process and loss of labor rights. With the latest in labor laws, an environment of uncertainty and insecurity can intensify the process of exploiting human labor.
One of the possibilities that the literature points to overcoming precarious work and the old relationship of capital, labor, and exploitation is the formation of associations and cooperatives. These organizations are based on free and voluntary membership, democratic management, economic participation of members, autonomy and independence, inter cooperation, promotion of the community, education, training, and information.
This work aims to present a preliminary analysis of cooperatives' performance and associations in an environment of labor deregulation, job insecurity, and unemployment. The aim is to subsidize studies and research on the subject, based on the scenario of high unemployment in Brazil that has been present since 2016. The world economic crisis of the Coronavirus pandemic has increased the number of unemployed in Brazil, with the brand 14 million unemployed.
The reflections developed in this study contribute to a review on the performance of cooperatives and their importance for overcoming the precarious work process and the promotion of a legally safe and stable environment to contribute to the maintenance of social rights and contribute to sustainable economic development.
It is a narrative review of the literature using a qualitative approach. The database used was Google Scholar, with the following keywords: cooperative, associative, work, precariousness. No specific filter was used, taking advantage of the references that emerged by relevance.
Preliminary findings indicate that cooperatives and associations are important alternatives for the absorption of these workers, providing social integration for these individuals, generating income, and sustainable development, to overcome all the instability verified in a characterized labor market due to precariousness and low wages.
This segment has shown a substantial expansion in the last 20 years, going from 4.77 million members in 2010 to around 15.5 million in 2021. In addition, the number of employees in these organizations is significant, having increased by more than 250% in the same period. In 2020, more than 400 thousand people were hired across Brazil, having placed cooperatives as an essential means of mediating outsourcing the workforce seen in the country.
However, it is noteworthy that the role of cooperatives and associations in the process of outsourcing and absorbing the labor of these organizations must guarantee the implementation of their principles. These actions aim to prevent their management from being carried out from the perspective of capital; always respecting the social values of work, and seeking to guarantee, in an accessible way, the guarantee of decent working conditions, including aspects of quality of life, health, and safety, ensuring the active participation of its members.
In this sense, observing the loss of labor rights and the problematic situation of structural unemployment present in Brazilian society, regulated work becomes an increasingly restricted opportunity, where cooperatives are seen as an alternative to resolve this issue, being a promising strategy for producers and consumers.
Finally, studies must be carried out to evaluate the performance of cooperatives as tools for generating work and income and considering the possibility that the adopted flexibility contributes to the precariousness of work.