Deus lhe pague!: a condição servente na construção civil

Abstract

To understand the roots and the context in which discrimination against attendant laborers (servants) in construction is generated and reproduced, as well as their psychosocial implications. This was the guiding objective of this research, developed through a case study. It fits in the so-called Clinics of Labor, specifically in the Psychosociology strand that seeks to establish a relationship between Ergology and Clinics of Activity for the understanding and transformation of work situations. The field of study was a small private company in the construction business, located in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The research was divided into three stages: (a) preliminary studies, (b) ergonomic observations and interviews and (c) categorization of the interviews and structure of the text. It was found a striking contradiction between the speeches addressed to the servant when speaking of his activity from common sense ("he who can do nothing") and speeches that are made considering the analysis of the actual work of these professionals (without the attendant the officer does nothing"). Besides that, it was noticed that the servant condition embodies a set of characteristics treated as negative, which hinder the formation of a positive self-image and identity by those who are marked by it (low education level, lack of expertise that characterizes "an art", the maximum level of heteronomy, "dirty" and heavy work, poverty). It was also found that the category discrimination has an important political function (social control) by weakening and breaking down cohesion and collective organization. The study reveals the coexistence of sophisticated mechanisms of construction production and the placing of human beings into humiliating and/or degrading conditions, which is classified as ethically and morally untenable. It also suggests that the neglect of investments focused on human development, in the work context, seems counterproductive, even under the profit logic. Finally, the considerations point to the need of overcoming the old social order and to create a new concept of work in our societies.