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The productive restructuring phenomenon is being expressed in the rural environment with new ways of organization, relationships and work conditions. These broad social, economic and technology have significantly changed the rural work and generated significant impacts on the health of rural workers.The objective of this study was to analyze the possible impacts of the productive restructuring in the sugarcane/alcohol industry on the cane cutter workers mental health, on its current work process and its perspectives related to their future job.
Methods
A case study with a qualitative approach was conducted, with five Focus Groups, composed from a 478 sugarcane cutters population of a sugarcane/alcohol industry from Pompéu town in Minas Gerais-Brazil. Each group had an average number of 12 participants.
Results
On the workers speech, feelings like fear, loss, insecurity, concern, nervousness, personal devaluation and a drop of professional prestige were identified with the development of the mechanization of the cane harvest. Social impacts like drug abuse, increase in armed robbery, and violence were discussed as possible consequences of the mass unemployment of this workers. As coping traits to this possible situation, alternatives like looking for less hard rural work, opening their own business, return to school and specialization courses were cited.
Discussion
Professional disqualification and changes on the ‘job profile’ after harvest mechanization are recognized by the sugar cane workers, who tend to develop coping traits upon possible unemployment. Even with differences on the way each worker deal with this changing process, these changes are being source of mental suffering and treats to physical/psychological integrity. This way, a profound discussion about these workers´ mental health is relevant, to build health surveillance for the rural sugarcane workers.