One of the workshops of the Unilabor facilities, where the assembly of furniture items was made, c. 1957 (photo by Geraldo de Barros)

Unilabor: a worker’s community

The first step in the establishment of the Unilabor community was the building of a chapel in 1950, dedicated to the Worker Christ, combined with the stimulation of several other cultural and social actions, through years 1951-57: amateur theatre group, adult literacy classes, medical assistance, pedagogical assistance to children parallel to the regular school, political debates, movie sessions with films lent by the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

The core of the community’s idea, however, consisted in its self-managed structure and in the ownership of the enterprise by its own workers, the “companions”. It was

regulated by a democratic statute and decisions were taken at assemblies of all its members. Fundamentally, the profit was shared among all the “companions”.

The experience lasted until 1967 but, from 1964 on, it met several ideological and economic difficulties that directly caused its termination. The main problem was the persecution held by the military government that took up the country in 1964, combined with the scarcity of bank credit, also a consequence of the political choices made by the community.

09/03/04 11:41:34 / text by MAURO CLARO © 2001-2004 / mclaro@unilabor.com.br

visão geral / unilabor, a comunidade / unilabor, a fábrica de móveis / cristo operário, a capela