The labour conditions of the wool shearing workers in the Patagonia (Argentina)

• Main Authors: Susana Aparicio, María Marcela Crovetto, Mercedes Ejarque
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional de La Plata 2013-06-01
• Series: Mundo Agrario
• Subjects: mercado de trabajo rural; esquila; condiciones de trabajo
• Online Access: http://www.mundoagrario.unlp.edu.ar/article/view/2238

Considering a context of globalized agro productive markets and an economic activity made for export, this article proposes to analyse the labour conditions of the wool-shearing workers in Chubut and their possible changes regarding the historical conditions. Since the end of the 19th century, the sheep wool production in Chubut was an important economic activity and organized the labour market in the region. Beginning with an historical review of the wool activity development, there will be considered from the labour regulations, the public policy and the union presence to the particular characteristics and dynamic of this labour market, in order to understand the changes and continuities in the labour conditions of the wool-shearing labours. This article comes up from a collective research and involves information from different sources, obtained mainly through interviews, surveys, field observations and other registers carry out during almost one decade regarding this topic in this and other areas in the country