This paper analyses normative contents of collective agreements vis-à-vis brazilian labour legislation in order to assess whether collective bargaining stipulated rules which had not been already fixed in the vast set of statutory rules that characterises the brazilian industrial relations system. This analysis has been carried out through an empirical study of 17 bargaining units in manufacturing in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between 1978 and 1995. Evidence suggests that collective bargaining increased its importance in job regulation by both enlarging employee rights and setting down some rules of employers' interest.
Industrial relations; Collective bargaining; Trade unions; Manufacturing
