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Economic Integration, Labor Market and International Migration: the Mercosur Case1 Neide Patarra2 1. Mercosur Context: Similarities and Disparities The Mercosur Trade Agreement of 1991 affects a group of nations in the Latin American Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia entering later). They are all geographically contiguous and have similar historical and cultural dimensions. At the same time, they are enormously diverse in their social and economic aspects. All are heirs to a colonial past of European origin (Portugal, in the case of Brazil, and Spain, in the case of the others), and gained their political independence in the 19th century. Their internal territorial divisions, cultural traits, processes of urbanization, economic cycles, relations with colonial metropolitan centers, processes of independence, relations with their native populations, and the presence of African slaves (especially in the case of Brazil), have forged similarities and diversities among them which, in the 20th century, merged into a general trend toward the industrialization of formerly colonial societies. The most evident discrepancy is the size of the geographic units in these countries. The Portuguese colonial policy created a geographically and linguistically consolidated territory, which is now Brazil, comprising 8,511,000 km² and a current population of approximately 170,000,000. In the case of Spanish colonization, 1 2 territorial dismemberment eventually created very small countries, such as Paraguay, with only 407,000 km² and a present-day a population 4.5 million. Uruguay has only 177,000 km² and a current population of about 3.1 million. Argentina, a country with a larger land area (2,767,000 km²), a more advanced and diversified level of industrialization, and a precocious urbanization process inherited strong European characteristics, and today has a population of approximately 32 million (Table 1). These countries have grown and been consolidated by means of intense international immigration flows, which have given them clear cultural peculiarities. From colonial times until the first half of the 20th century, Latin America absorbed enormous numbers of foreign migrants who, due to factors which forced them from their homelands or otherwise attracted them to new lands, came with the aim of permanently settling, becoming part of a new social context, and participating in the construction of new countries (Pellegrino, 1995). There were great flows of foreign migrants to Latin America during the 18th century, most of whom were from colonizing countries. In addition, great numbers of African were brought to the Americas as slaves, especially in slavocratic Brazil, a fact that created strong cultural peculiarities, especially in some areas of the country. In the 19th century, the socio-political crisis in Europe and the emancipation Previous version of this paper was presented at the XXIII General Population Conference. Beijing. 1997. Visiting Professor. National School of Statistical Sciences (ENCE)/IBGE. Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 movements in Latin America brought about further migratory flows to the region. Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile, which absorbed great numbers of Italian migrants, especially toward the end of the century, were the main destination of this flow. This process contributed considerably to the cultural, social and economic configuration of the Southern Cone countries (except Paraguay). The last great group of European immigrants to Latin America came just after World War II, especially to Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela (Lattes & Lattes, 1996). By the 1970s, immigration had become less attractive, and the socioeconomic gap between these Latin-American countries and the more developed nations increased. In addition, economic crises, social unrest and the adoption of dictatorial regimes in a number of Latin American countries, in alliance with the economic and social development of the so-called first-world nations, brought about another migratory movement. This time however, Latin Americans were leaving their homelands (Villa, 1996). Efforts at industrialization in Southern Cone countries have had peculiarities and faced obstacles that complemented the historical diversity of their social formation. Paraguay still has a basically traditional agrarian-based economy. Uruguay, with its early urbanization and high educational levels shows an incipient industrialization process that, together with its political problems, favors a high level of emigration, especially of young people. Argentina and Brazil have showed a more structured process of industrialization, although with numerous difficulties and serious social inequalities. All the countries involved in the recent economic integration process face the need to find their place in the correlations of international forces in the context of globalization. At the same time, they undergo internal pressure toward the restructuring of the production system, with internal and external indebtedness, the downsizing of the state apparatus, and local specificities, including the deterioration of the living conditions of large sectors of the population, as will be seen below. The economic indicators presented below reflect some of these disparities: most of the region’s total GP of 1994 (US$413.1 billion, or 61%), of approximately US$680 billion, came from Brazil, followed by Argentina, with US$255 billion, Paraguay, TABLE 1 Basic Indicators Source: Relatório Anual Banco Mundial (1994) and Boletim do Subgrupo do Trabalho n. 10, do Mercosul. 166 Patarra, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 with US$6.8 billion, and Uruguay with US$ 11.4 billion. It should be noted that per-capita annual income varied between a maximum of US$ 7,712, in Argentina, and a minimum of US$ 1,511, in Paraguay (Table 1). Other social indicators confirm disparities among Mercosur countries: Paraguay’s urbanization level was 42% in 1982, contrasted with Uruguay’s 88.7% (Table 2); infant mortality rates in the early 1990s ranged from 124.2 per thousand in Paraguay to 20.6 per thousand in Uruguay (Table 3). Life expectancy rates for the populations of those same countries also differ (Table 4), including significant differences by sex and by educational levels. Indicators show that Brazil has gone through the most intense industrialization process (Table 5). Poverty and indigence levels (Table 6) underscore the very low social indicators in Brazil, with figures that, in both cases, fall considerably below those of the three other Mercosur countries. In the early 1990s the total population in the four countries was nearly 190 million. Population estimates for 2000 indicated a total population of about 220 million, 80% in Brazil. Tables 7 and 8, below, show long- term evolution in these countries and their respective percentage distribution by age group (Table 8). Table 9 shows figures from the middle of the 20th century, with projections for the first two decades of the 21st, which enable us to establish future alternative socioeconomic scenarios. Population growth in the Southern Cone Countries, as everywhere else in Latin America, has slowed down significantly in recent decades. From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, total fertility fell from 6 to 3.4 children per woman, and life expectancy grew a mean of ten years, from 57 to 67. After having reached a maximum of 3%, present growth rates are now approximately 1.7% (Celade, 1993). Starting at very different levels in 1950, the projections showed that the Mercosur countries tend to converge toward considerably lower levels, notwithstanding the relatively higher level in Paraguay. In order more clearly to discuss the reciprocal influence between the Economic Integration Treaty and the labor market, it is important to note the effects of the related changes on the age structure of the respective populations during the time series considered here. Age pyramids in TABLE 2 Urbanization level Source: Fundação IBGE, Censo Demográfico de 1991 (Brazil); United Nations. Demographic Yearbook, 1991 & 1992 (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). TABLE 3 Total Fertility Rate and Infant Mortality Rate Source: United Nations. Demographic Yearbook, 1994 167 Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 TABLE 4 Life expectancy at Birth Source: Brasil - Fundação IBGE, Censo Demográfico de 1991 (Brazil); United Nations. Demographic Yearbook, 1991 & 1992, 1994. TABLE 5 Educational Indicators Source: CEPAL, 1994. * School enrolment per population, according to the age corresponding to schooling level (%). TABLE 6 Poverty and Indigence Indicators Source: CEPAL, 1994. 168 Patarra, N. those countries (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4) provide a quick view of the implications of such changes. The graphs show the effects of different processes of demographic transition in each country. Argentina and Uruguay underwent a rapid transition process which began in the early 20th century. Brazil and Paraguay are in similar phases of the process, and are thus Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 considered moderate transition countries (intermediary fertility and mortality), although the recent decline in fertility was greater in Brazil. Changes in the age structure of the population have important implications in terms of the labor market as well as in terms of the configuration of different social policy demand profiles. In the four countries TABLE 7 Total Population Distribution and Annual Demographic Growth Rates, by Age Group and Median Age in Mercosur Countries Source: Centro Latino Americano de Demografia. Boletin Demográfico. América Latina, Proyecciones de Población, 1950-2025. 169 Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 TABLE 8 Annual Demographic Growth Rate in Mercosur Countries Source: Centro Latino Americano de Demografia. Boletin Demográfico. América Latina, Proyecciones de Población, 1950-2025. discussed here, the lower percentage of the younger population may provide possibilities for improved educational opportunities and better professional training in the context of globalization. There is high participation of the economically active adult age groups, across the board. As can be seen in Table 7, the 20-59 age group tends to an increasing percentage of the total population, with an also growing population potential in terms of the labor market, strengthened by a likely increasing trend in women’s participation. As can also be seen in Tables 7 and 8, the participation of the 60-and-above age bracket is increasing, which brings up the emerging question regarding the so-called “third age” in those countries, with serious 170 implications on health and welfare systems in a context marked by a declining state participation in the financial support of social policies. 2. Recent Migratory Movements One characteristic of the recent international migration in the Southern Cone countries was the prevalence of two basic patterns: one, already mentioned, was toward industrialized countries, especially to the U.S.A., and the other, can be described as intra-regional migration (Chakiel & Villa, 1992). The migration toward industrialized countries increases as Latin-American countries consolidate their educational Patarra, N. systems and broaden the middle sectors of their populations. This fact underlines the difficulties inherent in retaining qualified human resources and those sectors where education is a factor for social ascent. Consumer habits and lifestyles similar to those in developed countries, related to globalization and the mass media generate desires that could be fulfilled in the home countries. They therefore result in potential migrations, that, due to selectivity, have major implications on intra-regional movements and on changes in the labor market in the context of economic integration (Pellegrino, 1996). Even in Brazil - a country with a traditional migratory attraction and considered as having a closed population in recent decades estimates for 1980-91 indicate a negative international migration balance of 1.4 million people. This was a surprise even to population experts, and was considered embarrassing to agents of civil society. Based on supposed values related to the image of a receptor country, Brazil saw the departure of young people of urban middle sectors with intermediary schooling as a failure of the national development project (Patarra, 1995). Intra-regional migration, on the other hand, cannot be considered a new phenomenon in Latin America. In a regional context, some borders are especially permeable to migratory movements. This type of population mobility has occurred mostly between regions with common historical and cultural roots. In fact, these intra-regional movements are converted into international migrations by political borders. Inequalities between countries in the process of development caused international migratory movements, which constitute a type of internal migration in the respective countries, because such displacements mean a “trans-frontier” extension of the same social processes (Palau, 1997). More recently, due to processes of integration and globalization, and the consequent opening of markets, intra-regional migration has taken on more dynamic and expressive forms, exactly in those Latin-American subregions where economic blocks are in Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 formation. In these regions, processes of economic integration are stimulating economic exchange and movements of populations. In the Southern Cone these types of migratory movements are especially prone to change, both between and within countries. Recent economic integration and increased communication between Mercosur countries tend to consolidate binational spaces with specific dynamics, where migratory flows are permanent and opportunities for work act as integrated regional markets (Pellegrino, 1996). In spite of this integration, inequalities among countries are growing, and have resulted in a greater volume of displacements of populations that, no longer limited within the national borders, can be classified as “trans-frontier” migrations, and include movements between metropolitan regions in the Mercosur. As was stated above, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, traditional recipients of European immigration (as well as Asian in the case of Brazil), received their most recent influx in the years immediately following World War II. Since then, and as early as the 1930s, the most intense movements of populations consisted of redistribution processes of the countries’ own internal populations and, in particular, of country-to-city migration in the urbanization process within each society. At least until the mid-1970s, Argentina continued to be a strong receiver of migrants from neighboring countries (Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay). But it was also simultaneously a sending country (Maguid, 1993), a trend that had been detected since the 1960s, including for political reasons which determined mass emigrational flows, including technicians and qualified professionals. Uruguay became a sender country, characterized by great numbers of emigrants leaving for other countries, including neighboring Argentina. On the whole, the magnitude of the emigration process from Uruguay, especially during the 1970s, caused a decrease in the country’s population, in absolute terms, in 1974-75 171 Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 (Niedworok & Fortuna, 1989). Among the factors which caused Uruguay to be a sending country of international migrations are not only political. They are also the effect of an economic crisis that lasted several decades and resulted in the emigration of large numbers of young people. Although economic indicators show signs of recuperation, effects of settlement abroad of a rather large population still tend to encourage the trend toward emigration (Palau, 1997). Besides a recent emigration trend toward First-World countries, as mentioned above, Brazil is in third place among the Latin-American receiver countries of immigrations, although the total numbers of immigrants from Mercosur countries is substantially lower than that toward Argentina. Brazil’s state policies favoring scientific and technological research, and the development of modern industrial sectors, had specific effects on the composition and integration of migratory streams. In the 1970, Brazil incorporated the most qualified Latin-American migratory flows. In fact, more than 10% of all immigrants were professionals and technicians. For the flows from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, this proportion corresponded to 25%, 15% and 9%, respectively. Similarly, the proportion of immigrants to Brazil with more than 10 years of schooling is significantly higher than that seen among the Latin American immigrants to Argentina. During the 1970s, a certain amount of economic expansion resulted in attracting immigrants, while many Argentineans abroad also returned to their country (Palau, 1997). More recently, Brazil has been receiving a new type of immigrant from other Latin American countries, especially Peru and Bolivia, belonging to poorer urban social groups who move to the large cities, especially São Paulo. There they become engaged in producing articles for exportation. This type of movement undoubtedly corresponds to the new restructuring phase of metropolitan economy, TABLE 9 Argentina: Permanentily Settled foreign Population, by Nationatily, 1986 Source: INDEC. Anuario Estadístico de la República Argentina - 1983-1986. From Fundação IBGE. Mercosul: sinopse estatística, v. 1, Rio de Janeiro, 1993. 172 Patarra, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 and is gaining force. It is very difficult, however, to estimate numbers, but there may be as many as 100,000 only in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area alone. The case of the emigration of Brazilians to other neighboring Southern Cone countries deserves special attention. To a considerable extent, this movement is closely related to Brazil’s governmental agrarian policies during the 1970s and 1980s, and has had very negative effects. Whether overtly in favor of agrarian reform, or merely for the apparent democratization of access to the land and for small farm production, those policies had indirect effects which favored the development of an agrarian land market and, in addition, the arrival of large groups and industries in Brazil’s agricultural structure, seriously harming the more traditional, family-based production (Sales, 1996). Displacements of Brazil’s rural population - especially toward Paraguay, but also toward Argentina and Uruguay - were closely related to a process of raising the land values (Reydon & Plata, 1995). The movement toward those countries include rural landowners and agriculture entrepreneurs in search of cheaper land for production or speculation, as well as rural workers or small farmers, numerically much more significant and motivated by the need for the possibility of subsistence, as they had been dispossessed in the process of the modernization of agriculture and technical advances. TABLE 10 Brazil: Naturalized Brazilians and Foreigners, by Sex, According to Country of Birth Source: Censo Demográfico: Dados Gerais, Fundação IBGE, Mercosul: sinopse estatística, v. 1, Rio de Janeiro, 1993. 173 Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 In the case of the displacements toward Argentina and Uruguay, the landowners themselves are probably buying land in the border areas of those countries, and - either permanently or, in most cases, temporally taking with them the manpower to be used to handle the crops. This type of migration is usually illegal in nature, and the many of the workers involved tend to return at the end of the harvest or, sometimes, even every weekend (Sales, 1996). This arrangement might be described as a kind of “transfrontier seasonal worker (known in Brazil as bóias-frias [cold chows].” According to local information, today Brazilians represent up to 50% of all rice producers in Uruguay. The presence of Brazilian producers in Argentina is lower, but is nevertheless considerable: 250 out of 1000 rice producers are Brazilians, for example. Part of the base of this phenomenon is the very high price of land in Brazil. In Brazil as a whole, the mean price jumped from US$ 100 in the late 1860s to US$ 800 in the 1950s. In the State of São Paulo they rose from US$ 200 to US$ 1,000 during the same period (Reydon & Plata). Brazilian advances onto Paraguayan land was made possible by the occupation policy of both countries. Since its dictatorial regime the Paraguay government allowed foreigners to acquire land, with the purpose of promoting its agricultural development. In the process, the federal welfare system TABLE 11 Migrant Population of Latin-American Countries Who Settled in Brazil between 1981 and 1991, According to Country of Birth Source: Fundação IBGE, Censo Demográfico, 1991. 174 Patarra, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 set down regulations to control the process. That policy became a stimulation for and an increase in the migratory flow which, as of the 1960s, produced the population groups known as the “Braziguayans,” perhaps numerically the most significant flow of Brazilian emigration. The Paraguayan census showed a total of 2,144 Brazilians living in the country, while estimates by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, gathered from consular agents indicate up to 350,000 Brazilians in the country. Estimates of the Roman Catholic Migrant Worker Ministry estimate that there are approximately 500,000 Brazilians living in Paraguay. This significant migratory volume remains unchanged, despite the evidence of the return of some Brazilians, especially to the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, particularly in the second half of the 1980s. This return, however, would lead one to the hypothesis of a certain circularity in populational movements between the two countries, most of these migrant being of rural origin or otherwise involved in farming activities, a process that deserves special TABLE 12 Paraguay: Permanently Admitted Immigrants, by Sex, According to Country of Birth Sources: Dirección General de Estadística, Encuestas y Censo, Anuario Estadístico del Paraguay, Fundação IBGE, Mercosul: sinopse estatística, v. 1, Rio de Janeiro, 1993. 175 Patara, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 TABLE 13 Uruguay: Population Living in the Country but Born Abroad, by Sex, According to Country of Birth Source: Dirección General de Estadística, Encuestas y Censo, Anuario Estadístico del Uruguay; Fundação IBGE, Mercosul: sinopse estatística, v. 1, Rio de Janeiro, 1993. attention in the context of economic integration. The press has recently described a series of conflicts between Uruguayan and Brazilian farm workers in these areas, as a consequence of new land tenure policies and differences in the prices of agricultural products, due to economic agreements in the context of the Asunción Agreement. Paraguay, in turn, has the character of a country that both exports and imports populations. Immigration to the country, in total volumes, never reached the magnitude seen in other countries in the region, but the proportional weight in relation to the total population has been increasing. The emigratory movement of Paraguayans, in contrast, has been considerable, headed especially to Argentina where, according to 1970 Census data, consisted of 10% of the Paraguay-born population. During the 1970s, economic expansion resulted in the attraction of immigrants and the return of considerable numbers who had formerly migrated to Argentina (Palau, 1997). It is important to underscore that, since the 19th century, the Paraguayan economy has been strongly dependent on the Argentinean market. There was a 176 reorientation in the 1970s, with the preponderance of exports and imports from Brazil. Brazilian investments became the main source of funds moving into the country, to the point of 60% of all financial operations being controlled by Brazilian banks. Tables 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, using somewhat different criteria, show the total number of foreigners living in the respective countries in recent years. 3. Economic Integration, Labor Market and Emerging Social Issues The effects of the period of adjustment in Latin American countries regarding finances, employment and wage levels, as well as on the performance of governmental policies, are an important area for debate and discussion (see, among others, Tockman, 1993; Castro, 1996; Cepal, 1993; Tavares & Fiori, 1993; Cano, 1991; Pochman, 1996). The foreign debt crisis of the early 1980 constituted a real threat to the continuation of the industrialization process, with the per capita income in a period of stagnation, unstable labor market and paralysis of the public sector. The role of exports grew with the increasing Patarra, N. Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 privatization process, against the debts of the public sector and its incapacity to continue investing in numerous economic and social areas. Inflation was put under control with the consequent monetary stability, and there were some signs of increases in the per capita income. Nevertheless the paralysis of the public sector persists, with inadequate social policies and enormous difficulties in returning to sustained growing. Therefore, the current context is the combined result of the opening of the economy, reduction in state action, labor market deregulation, and privatization of the state productive sector. In addition, increased international competitiveness has forced a lowering of labor costs, market deregulation, and the institution of privileged mechanisms that favor world trade and the expansion of employment (Pochman, 1996). Therefore, measures related to the labor area have privileged the flexibilization of labor rights, without concern for its effects on wage inequality, income concentration, and labor market instability. After the so-called Washington agreement, Latin American countries in general tended to follow the prescriptions for reforms and economic adjustments presented by international agencies. The IMF has played a major role as a formulator of macroeconomic policies, monetary stability (by reducing public expenses), the opening of trade, accumulation of reserves, inflation control, etc. Concurrently, the World Bank induced the so-called “structural reforms,” which necessarily included market deregulation, the opening of trade and finances, state downsizing, public sector privatization, etc. In such a context, social and labor items in agreements are increasingly governed by the rules of world trade, with the loss of autonomy of national policies. The intense internationalization of the economy, in turn, acts through networks of investments and production planning in various regions of the world, with highly rational economies and competitive advantages, contributing to the weakening of the autonomy of national policies (Pochman, 1996). This situation implies major changes in the social division of labor. Craftsmanship and traditional professionals are rapidly disappearing. There is a strong trend concurrent trend toward the specialization of labor, which, in turn, demands constant TABLE 14 Percentile Distribution of the Labor Force (1989-93) Mercosur Countries Source: ILO, 1994. (*) Not including agriculture and mining. 177 Patara, N. qualification and higher capability of manpower. Broad unemployment ensues, even in countries where manpower is more highly qualified. The demand for manpower has decreased everywhere, and not only in the more industrialized areas, even for occupations related to contracted and subcontracted services. The rise of new forms of occupation, many of which consist of part-time or household work, has resulted in the intensification of the informal use of manpower, which tends to increase at a faster pace than formal employment, and in a more unstable labor market (Pochman, 1996). As can be seen below, the labor forces in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay decreased between 1989 and 1993. In the same period, household services and the participation of small industries took on considerable importance, and are even on the rise. The informal sector, in turn, represented approximately one quarter of the labor force in the respective countries (Table 14), with a trend toward continuous growth in subsequent years. The general characteristics of the labor market in the Mercosur context include the above-mentioned trend toward increased participation of women. Between 1950 and 1990, the female proportion of total manpower grew from 20.0% to 27.0% in Argentina, from 15.4% to 29.6% in Brazil, from 21.9% to 24.4% in Paraguay, and from 18.7% to 38.5% in Uruguay (Table 15). For an idea of the size of this labor market at the end of the century, it should be kept in mind that, in 2000, the estimated total labor force Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 for these four countries is approximately 90 million people, meaning 15, 72, 2 and 1,5 million, in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, respectively. This corresponds to 41.1%, 43.0%, 38.5% and 46.9% of their total populations (Palau, 1997:7). It is on that reality that the effects of the Mercosur Trade Agreement has begun to act, with its characteristics, its potential, as well as its limitations and difficulties. The Asunción Treaty was part of an earlier series of integration agreements going back to the 1960s, with questionable results. It was signed in 1991, with the main goal of broadening the national markets of the signing countries, through economic integration. This point is considered essential for including the sub-region into the contemporary international scene and accelerating its development processes, with social justice. For this purpose, the countries agreed to establish the free exchange of goods, services and productive factors, common import-export rates, the coordination of macro economic and sectorial policies, and the harmonization of pertinent laws (Tratado para a Construção..., 1991). The document does not include agreements or mechanisms to promote or regulate the social dimension of integration agreements (De Filippo, 1997:35). Therefore, the aim of social justice, as propounded in the foreword of that document, indicates no specific means for actions to guarantee protective commitments toward the social groups involved, nor the articulation of processes to promote acceptable living conditions for the social segments that are TABLE 15 Evolution of the Proportion of Women in the Total Labor Force between 1950 and 1990 in Latin American in General and in Mercosur Countries Source: Valdés & Gomáriz, 1995 (apud Abramo, 1997). 178 Patarra, N. most vulnerable to the globalization process. In the years subsequent to the signing of the agreement, the only aspects related to social matters in the context of the new geopolitical space were those involving a minimum of regulation and the compatibilization of labor relations. This sphere, however, means merely an attempt to concretize the proposals of economic integration with the free trade of goods, postponing the inevitable regulation of the free circulation of persons. As far back as 1991, at a meeting of the Ministers of Labor of the signatory countries, held in Montevideo, while recognizing the necessity of considering labor issues, the governments agreed to carry out “all necessary cooperation for the reciprocal knowledge of the diverse regimes related to employment, social security, professional formation, and individual and collective labor relations.“ As a result, the group created the Labor Subgroup, providing for the representation of entrepreneurs and workers of the four countries (Espino, 1995). The Asunción Document created the Common Market Council, a high-level body charged with political and decision-making powers, encompassing the ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Labor of the countries involved, with presidency rotating among the four nations. The Common Market Group is its executive organ, coordinated by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and, among other attributions, this body may set up the necessary working subgroups. Ten subgroups were created for coordinating macroeconomic and social policies. In the first drafts, provisions were that the Mercosur should establish organs to represent the interests of the diverse socioeconomic groups. These organs were known as the Social and Political Representative Organs. At first, only the Mercosur Industrial Council was set up. At the meeting in Ouro Preto (1994), it was decided to incorporate that Council into the Economic and Social Consulting Forum, which meant an enlargement of the Council to include other segments, similar to the Economic and Social Committee of the Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 European Union. The Joint Parliamentary Commission (CPC), with consulting and decision-making powers, completed the incipient list of possibilities in treating social questions in the Mercosur Treaty. In this context, the trade union movement has participated in a permanent and organized way, not only concerning labor issues, but also as almost the only body related to social claims (Castro, 1995 and 1996). It has benefited from the course of the Trade Union Center Coordination (CCSCS), created in 1987. In this way, the trade union movement has had played an increasingly important role since the signing of the Asunción Treaty: “CCSCS participation in negotiations, although of little significance in the whole of decisions, exerted an influence on the pace of integration, better contacts between trade union organizations and knowledge of problems and the possible consequences of Mercosur on the workers” (translated from Castro, 1995:143). The action of the labor union movement lay in its concern over the inequalities and the dimensions of the economy of the four countries. It has decried the enormous reduction in industry due to competition between companies, the flexibilization of national labor policies, and the reduction of social benefits. As has been underscored, the national models being established have increased unemployment, worsened income distribution, and expanded social marginalization (Castro, 1995:143). Among its other tasks, the political action of trade unions faces the need for minimum compatibility among labor laws in the four countries. Legal mechanisms for hiring and firing workers, treatment of retirement, contributions by companies and workers to associations and unions, etc., are quite diverse and often vague. The defining of compatible mechanisms among the countries has become urgent, due to the region’s high potential migration. Different ways of dealing with these matters may affect the unstable and unprotected migration movements, since migrational policies can only attenuate the negative 179 Patara, N. effects of the integration process by jointly addressing these issues. The welfare issue is also in urgent need of attention. Mercosur countries are going through processes of reformulating their policies. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay were the first to adopt social-security regimes, although they are now the countries with the highest deficits in this area. An increase of the number and the duration of retirements, partly due to the increased life expectancy, as well as the effects of inflation and administrative difficulties, make these systems a priority issue in the current attempts at reformulating the state apparatus. The main aspect of these reformulation processes has been the need to reduce the differences between total financing and resources, and contribution levels. Another need is to establish agreements that will provide benefits to immigrant workers in their country of residence, as vested or acquired rights (Tockman & Wurganft, 1995). Similarly, different health and educational laws and policies are necessary instances for accompanying in the Mercosur trade schedule, in order to prevent greater inequalities and explicit or potential conflicts in a sub-region where migrations tend to become an intrinsic part of economic and social dynamics. To summarize, a broad range of issues must be faced in Mercosur’s trade union and social schedule. The women’s movement has already organized two discussion forums and has insisted on the need to face social questions in the context of international integration, from a gender perspective. Different segments of civil society will also surely tend to act in a more dynamic way in monitoring the increasing and diverse displacements of populations and the disorganization of social life in the context of integration. References ABRAMO, L. 1997. Oportunidades y nuevas experiências de trabajo para la mujer en el contexto de la restructuracion 180 Braz. Journ. Pop. Stud., Campinas, 2, 1999/2000 productiva y de la integracion regional. São Paulo: UNIFEM. 29-30 abr. (Mimeo). ARGENTINA; BRASIL; PARAGUAI; URUGUAI. 1991. Tratado de Assunção. Assunção. (Tratado para a Construção de um Mercado Comum). CANO, W. 1991. Reflexões sobre o Brasil e a nova (des) ordem internacioanal. Campinas: Unicamp. 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