Clay workers

working conditions, precariousness and cunning of the “Ceramics Peons” in the Lower Jaguaribe region, CE (1964-2010)

Abstract

Ceramic production is a tradition on the banks of the River Jaguaribe in Ceará, dating back to the indigenous populations who inhabited this area. Over time, this activity has been carried out by artisans, potters and workers, the latter in the context of the tile and brick factories that sprang up in the 1960s. Using oral accounts from former workers in the ceramics sector as sources, as well as labor lawsuits, this text aims to reflect on the experiences of ceramics peons, as these workers are commonly called. Among other things, these two types of sources expose the denial of rights and exploitation, reconstruct the roles they played, the exhausting working hours and the working conditions. In this context, we tried to analyze the precariousness of the material working conditions or the fragility of informal ties, thus reflecting on the forms of exploitation, as well as the various circumstances in which the health and integrity of the body were put at risk. Finally, we recorded the ways in which these workers responded to such situations, whether through cunning in the daily life of the factory or by claiming rights in the Labor Courts.