Repercussions of the labor reform on nursing work in the context of the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: To reflect on the repercussions of the Labor Reform on nursing work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a reflective study based on the legal aspects of the Labor Reform in dialog with scientific productions pertaining to nursing work. Results: With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the flexibilization of labor is being intensified, legally backed up by the Labor Reform. For nursing workers, the repercussions are felt in the work relationship, during the workday, in the salary, in union action, and in job protection. Final considerations: It is evident that, after the legislative changes, there’s no certainty that the flexibilization of labor and social security laws will bring favorable results in terms of economic growth, reduction of inequalities, and lower unemployment rates for the nursing workers. Therefore, the political organization of the professional categories is the way to overcome this scenario.

Working conditions in nursing in the face of Covid-19 from the perspective of precariousness

“…The need for a workforce to care for patients with Covid-19 has created many nursing jobs in the country. However, under the support of the Labor Reform in force in Brazil since 2017, entry into these jobs occurred through flexible and temporary contracts ( 10 ) .…”

“…Given the fragility of the relationship, these workers are more vulnerable to dismissal and, therefore, are subjected to more degrading work situations ( 3 ) . This reality was evident at the most critical moment of the pandemic, when the fear of losing their jobs led nursing workers to remain in their work activities, even in the absence of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and/or accessible in satisfactory quantities, making them more exposed to illness and death from Covid-19 ( 10 ) .…”

Continuing work in times of COVID-19: Protection measures in the workplace for health professionals

“…From this perspective, it is necessary to implement the principles and actions recommended by international documents on worker protection, as a new way of reorganizing the working classes [1,16,19,31,41,44].…”

“…For several researchers, when dealing with the supply of PPE, at the current conjuncture it represents "sending soldiers to a war without ammunition" (p. 272). The lack of parity of weapons in the fight against COVID-19 is established if professionals do not have minimum aspects of protection, which results in occupational illness [41,[43][44][45][46].…”

“…The limitation of collective bargaining caused by the weakening of unions after the implementation of Law N • . 13,467/2017, the so-called "Labor Reform" that disfigures the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) [44], associated with the lack of protection and slowness of representative class entities, brings to the fore the individual interests of a small portion of the working population -entrepreneurs and the neoliberal system [5,21,25].…”