SOCIETAL CHANGE AND INDUSTRIAL-RELATIONS IN LATIN-AMERICA - TRENDS AND PROSPECTS

Industrial relations have changed profoundly over the past 20 years in Latin America. There is greater respect for human rights and freedom of association. The level of conflict has lessened and efforts at tripartite consultation are discernible. The overall pattern, however, is unclear. The author reviews the transformations that have occurred since the early 1980s: political upheavals, democratization, structural adjustment, social and institutional changes. He analyses and illustrates the latest reforms in labour law and the difficult progress towards independence for the social partners given the interventionist tradition of the State in industrial relations.