Labor, ultraliberal reforms, inequalities and the pandemic in Brazil: the meanings of the crisis

Abstract The capitalist crisis intensified with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic had devastating effects on the world economy and, in the case under analysis, on the Brazilian labor market, especially with the increase in unemployment and informality. This article, based on bibliographical, documentary and secondary data research, presents a recent overview of the labor market in an ultraliberal context of regressive reforms approval in the scope of Brazilian social protection. These reforms contributed to the loss of social rights, the weakening of union organizations, the increase in unemployment and the deepening of social inequalities.